Noah Run: Untalented
by saturday.conspiracy
Summary: AU Noah, daughter of Hecate, got her wish and got into Hogwarts. But she didn't expect all the complications to come with that. And demigod Death Eaters? Not to mention her crush on Gryffindor's know-it-all. REVISED VERSION
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson._**  
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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

The night was still and foreboding with only mournful wails to hint at any sign of life. The wails soon quieted and beyond rusty iron gates and through the walls of the mundane stone building, a dying woman whispered,

"I hope…he looks…like his papa."

She closed her hollow eyes, and with the last bit of will she could muster, she held out her trembling arms to receive the baby she had just birthed. The elderly woman who was cradling the strangely silent infant cautiously obliged while still wondering just how much tonight's events had turned her hopes for a peaceful evening upside down.

The new mother lying down looked like she could break in half with the barest of touches, but she maintained just enough strength to hold the tiny bundle to her breast and open her eyes again. Her breath caught in her throat.

The chubby, but set jaw. The sliver of dark hair that looked much better than her own drooping locks. And the dark eyes that flittered open for the briefest of seconds, but enough for her to see that they were near identical to the ones she so often dreamed about.

For the first time in months, the young woman felt a little bit of strength coming back into her body as she held the baby closer.

"Just like his papa…" And maybe this one would love her back…

**O0O0O0O**

Tom Riddle Jr. didn't often dream. Not even when he was a child thanks to the Dreamless Sleep Potion his mother often brewed for him in the basement of Wool's Orphanage. He knew it was because he had started asking questions about his father…about why they had to stay at the crummy, old orphanage…about everything, really.

Mother didn't like questions and her eyes would always cloud over with a sadness he could never understand. She had him, didn't she? So why would she need to be sad? Uh-oh. He was asking questions again.

Anyway, it had just been that one dream of a stranger who looked exactly like him, dark and handsome and laughing with arrogance. The man swept Mother into his arms and kissed her deeply, and then vanished.

When Tom woke up, excited and eager to tell his mother, she wasn't in her bed. But that didn't deter him and he hurried to find her.

She was in the courtyard, muttering to herself, he initially thought. She always did that and there were days when she locked herself in the room to have mournful conversations with herself. But she wasn't alone this time. He crouched next to the door, peeking through the crack, and stared at her companion. It was another woman, but she seemed to glow in the darkness. She actually looked a bit like Mother, but with silkier hair and vibrant green eyes.

"You _must_ tell him, Merope. Everything." The woman said.

"I will tell him nothing, Lady Hecate," mumbled Mother. "He must grow up…normal…like his papa…"

Lady Hecate shook her head. "A foolish mistake. While too much knowledge is dangerous, too little is far worse. His magic is already quite powerful."

"No! No! No! He…He must"—Mother was sobbing in heaves now—"S-So much like his…papa…wh-who almost loved me t-too!"

Mother sank to her knees and buried her face against the cobblestone ground and Tom could only see her back shaking. He found this curious. He had never seen her like this before: she'd always been weak, but this was a new side of her.

Then he pursed his lips in a frown. She wanted him to be _normal_? Like stupid Dennis Bishop who picked his nose all the time? Well…he didn't do it anymore since the cave incident. Tom Jr. started to snicker to himself.

Lady Hecate was talking again. "I've even given him a dream of his father to—"

"_No!_" shrieked Mother, her eyes wide and burning deliriously. "Why him? Why didn't you give it to _me_? I…I d-do miss him so…Tom is nothing…like his father…"

Lady Hecate shook her head in disgust, which warped her delicate features. "You only raised him with the hope he'd be like that man? He's so much more than that, Merope. You're wasting my legacy."

But Merope didn't hear her and continued wailing like a wounded creature. There was no more to be said, so Lady Hecate disappeared.

Tom sank to the floor and wondered over what he'd just heard.

_Magic…_It certainly made sense given all the strange things he could do: Making things move without touching them, and whispering to snakes that would follow his every command.

So he didn't even ask any questions when he received a strange letter explaining that he was a wizard. He was excited, if not a little frightened, but Mother had snatched the letter away and stuffed it in her mouth with a single gulp. And she had said nothing more about it. A few of the other orphans at the table snickered at him, but he would deal with them later. With every passing day after that, Mother grew more and more distant and the night before she died, she hadn't made him a Dreamless Sleep Potion.

**O0O0O0O**

When Tom Riddle Jr. had his first dream in a long, long time, he was intrigued. Lady Hecate, the goddess he had not seen since he was a child, stood before him and they were surrounded by shadows.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle." She looked the same as she had back then, fixing him with the same pointed look she had given his cowering mother.

"I go by Lord Voldemort now, Lady." He gave her a quick, polite bow.

"It matters not. What you have done…" She looked around as if expecting to see the body of the pathetic little girl he'd just killed.

It had happened so quickly, but his fingers and lips still tingled deliciously from the excitement. One word: _Kill_…and she was still.

"I'm only living up to your legacy, my lady," he said silkily. "I know everything now. Who I am…my muggle _father"_—he spat the word out like bile that had been sitting in his throat for too long—"and your secret little world, Lady. Your magic has been wasted on _unworthy filth_."

"While _you_ have abused your inherited gifts. It is not for you to decide who deserves magic or not, Riddle," hissed Lady Hecate. "Whatever plans you have, they will fail."

Lord Voldemort's pale face lost its composure for the briefest of seconds. How did she know his plans? She may have been a goddess, but the one thing he had learned from hours of studying the Greek gods and their interactions with the mortal world was that they were so arrogant, they didn't always see what was under their noses. It both unnerved and comforted him that at least his own godly ancestor had some brains.

Seeing that she had struck a nerve in her descendant, Lady Hecate pressed on. "Yes, I know your future even without the help of prophecies, Riddle. By the end of your so-called war, your men will have either died or renounced you. There will be nothing left for you."

However, Lord Voldemort smiled this time. It was the wide grin that melted so many hearts, but there was a coldness behind it now as he slowly grew further and further away from the handsome, charming boy he was known as.

"You've no idea how persuasive I can be, my lady. I will command more than men and all will give me their unfailing loyalty. Any defectors will be brought to heel…when the time is right," he replied at last, savoring the hardened look on her face.

"Well, when that time comes, you will not be ready." Then she stretched a slender hand out to him. "Remember my curse: _you will not kill again_."

Voldemort's eyes widened at this. "What do you think you're—"

"Tom Marvolo Riddle, _you will not kill again_."

**O0O0O0O**

And so the years passed and Lady Hecate's curse weighed heavily on Lord Voldemort's shoulders. He had not killed a single person since that night at Hogwarts. But it hadn't stopped him. Muggle-borns and muggles and blood traitors alike—all laid to rest by his army. It was a sight to behold.

He drank in the sight of the countless bodies strewn at his feet as much as he could, but it wasn't the same. The cold rush of excitement didn't fill him as it had when he'd made that first kill. He'd watched his men shoot their killing curses. He'd seen the giants crush bones and flatten bodies. He'd bathed in death everyday, but it wasn't enough. He could still torture and cause his victims wrenching pain that left them in a state worse than death…but it wasn't enough.

Yes, they had lost to Albus Dumbledore and his self-righteous band of blood traitors and muggle-borns, but Lord Voldemort would not be swayed into giving himself up to the dementors of Azkaban. There was still work to be done. And it would be done with patience, careful plotting, and hate.

He waited invisibly. In the meantime, his name had become legend, oozing fear into people's daily lives just enough that they didn't dare speak it.

But soon, he would rise again. He held up the black orb in his hand as it glinted in the moonlight. It was about the size of an egg and seemed to be made entirely of black glass except for the tiny, golden tree etched into it.

"Do you understand what you are to do, my servant?" he asked softly, his voice high and cold like icicles that cut through the trembling man before him.

"Y-Y-Yes, m-m'lord," the man whispered back, bowing as low as he could so he wouldn't have to look into his master's hollow, piercing eyes. "I sh-shan't fail you."

"You would do well not to." Lord Voldemort paused to let the warning hand in the still air. "Now go."

Then he placed the orb in the man's nervous hands.

The time was ripe now. He would have his revenge at last.

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><p><strong>AN: Hello, all! I hope you guys liked this and thanks for reading! This is the new version, so the plan is that it turns out better than the last one.**

**The idea is that Voldemort's mom stayed alive even though she doesn't do a good job of raising him anyway. As for putting a curse on him, it's for the simple reason that I don't want to deal with any Horcruxes.**


	2. Shoelaces

**A/N: Hey there! I told you guys I'd be getting the revised chapters up quickly. It's mostly the first half of this chapter that's different, so be sure to read it. It was an anonymous reviewer named Bubbles who suggested the idea of giving Noah at least one talent that led to these changes, so thank you Bubbles!**

**Again, if anyone has any ideas about what House I could put Noah in at Hogwarts, let me know.**

_Disclaimer: I wish I owned these two series._

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><p><strong>Shoelaces<strong>

The only time Noah was ever certain that she was a child of Hecate, goddess of magic and witchcraft, was when she was tying her shoelaces.

A tingling rush would course through her veins and send warm shivers into her fingertips—then her laces would lift themselves from their limp state and form a sturdy knot that would last all day as she ran from the lava on the climbing wall, had her foot stepped on by the pegasi in the stables, and got her butt handed to her in sword fighting matches against her best friend, Connor Stoll.

Noah stood hunched over in the sand pit, gasping for breath. Her ears were still ringing from the sound of clashing metal as another one of her attacks was blocked. She turned back to look at Connor, and he smiled smugly.

"Come on, I gave you enough time to block that one."

"Suuure you did," she wheezed. "Anyway, that was…a lucky shot."

Connor snorted at this. "More like seventeen lucky shots."

She took a deep breath and winced, deciding to swallow her next remark. She couldn't help but be a little jealous at her friend's athletic build even though he was only thirteen. They'd been going at this for an hour and he had yet to break a sweat. Meanwhile, loose strands of her disheveled, black hair—same as her mother's—clung to her dark forehead and when she licked her lips, they tasted salty. Her eyes were her father's, dark chocolate and squinting against the blazing Long Island sun.

Anyway, she hated sword fighting, but she'd rather be facing Connor (who probably _was_ going easy on her) than one of the Ares kids. Swords were heavy and she couldn't get used to the feeling of cold metal pressed against her skin. Connor, on the other hand, looked perfectly comfortable with his Celestial Bronze short sword—a gift from his dad, Hermes. It must've felt nice to know that at least one of your parents acknowledged your existence by giving you a cool magical item.

Even her half-sister, Lou Ellen, had gotten something from their mom. It was a glittery silver hair scrunchy that not only kept her wild mane from her face, but also boosted her magic powers by five times. The best part was that none of her siblings could "borrow" it without permission from her. Anybody who tried would find their body parts rearranged for the next two hours. It was this that made her the automatic counselor for Cabin #20.

"Ow! Jeez, Connor!" she cried, clutching her throbbing leg where a large bruise was already forming.

"Sorry! I thought you at least saw _that_ one coming, No-no," he drawled.

She tried to glare at him, but it didn't work as well since her eyes were still watering. Connor only laughed and held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Ok, ok, just kidding! We can stop here."

Almost too relieved, she let the sword slip from her grasp and collapsed onto her sore rear end, not caring that sand was getting into her clothes.

He rolled his twinkling blue eyes as he twirled his sword around. Showoff.

"You've got to be the most out of shape demigod ever."

"Yeah, well, not all of us can be related to the god of athletes," she retorted after she had finally caught her breath.

"You sure about that? Our cabin seems to be filling up pretty quickly all over again."

"Great. Just what Camp needs: more Hermes kids trying to hijack Argus' car for a joyride." She laughed at his feigned look of innocence as he finally sat down beside her.

Sometimes she still couldn't believe that an older kid like Connor would hang out with her even though she wasn't in the Hermes cabin anymore.

He pushed his curly, brown hair out of his eyes and flashed his famous crooked grin. "Ha! Look who's talking? By the way…didn't you have Greek mythology this morning?" he inquired knowingly.

"Huh?" Then it hit her. "Oh yeah! Here." She went over to her bag and pulled out a tightly folded spare t-shirt. Unfolding it, she revealed a set of reed pipes when she sat down beside him again.

"Awesome!" Connor exclaimed, holding them up. "It seems as though I've trained you well, my young padawan."

Noah rolled her eyes with a grin, but felt quite pleased with herself nonetheless.

"Do I even _want_ to know what exactly you plan to do with a satyr's reed pipes?" she asked suspiciously.

Connor only ruffled her already messy hair and she swatted his hand away. "Don't worry your pretty little head, Noah," he replied. "You'll find out soon enough."

"Right...so what about my prize?" she said eagerly.

She liked playing Connor's games. They were exciting and he usually gave her some great prizes whenever she succeeded. Like the magic flashlight that never ran out of power, for example. It had been really cool of him to teach her a few stealing tips in the short weeks she'd stayed in Cabin #11 while Chiron tried to figure out which goddess was her mother. Of course, the children of Hermes had their own magical way of stealing things, so she doubted that Connor actually needed her help since her skills were nothing compared to his and his siblings'. She often wondered if he gave her "missions" as an excuse to hang out with her, which would've surprised and pleased her at the same time.

"Ah, yes. Your prize…" Connor thought for a moment. "Hmm…I dunno. Want me to pull another prank on Simon?"

Simon was her older half-brother whose favorite game was "Wake Up, Noah", which always involved flipping her mattress over (while she was still on it, mind you) at three o'clock in the morning and then making her pillow attack her until she was spitting out feathers. And that was when he wasn't making fun of her about her magical abilities—or lack of.

"Yeah, sounds good," Noah agreed with a smirk.

Then, as if on cue, she heard Simon call her name,

"There you are, Noah!"

She and Connor jumped up and turned around where, sure enough, he was jogging towards them. He had the same green eyes as their mom with a sly, plotting look about them that made it seem like he was planning to turn someone into a garden slug.

"Why? What is it?" Noah asked him, trying to look guiltless as Connor stifled his laughter.

"You've got, uh, something waiting for you back at the cabin. Come on before Lou Ellen gets even more ticked off." And before she could open her mouth to ask him what he was talking about, Simon grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her off.

**O0O0O0O**

"Whoa…hope this doesn't turn out like the Dresser Thing," Connor said, staring blankly along with the rest of camp.

Perched on the roof of Hecate's cabin were at least twenty owls, all looking very unconcerned with the confused campers below or the stocky, red-faced teen yelling at them.

"Shut up about that. _I_don't even know what's going on," Noah moaned as her cheeks burned and she looked at her feet.

The Dresser Thing had been over a month ago, but she should've known that he'd never let her live it down.

There was a splendid golden dresser in the Hecate cabin with one cabinet for each member, able to hold all of their clothes and even do magical laundry every other week so that every child of Hecate would open their cabinet and find fresh clothes neatly folded inside. It also added a new one whenever another child of the goddess came along to Camp.

Simon, who was still pretty upset when Noah had accidentally set his pillow on fire one morning in an attempt to make her own bed by magic, had been teasing her again about her skills.

"Mom's never going to pay any attention to you if you can't even do a simple spell, No-no," he cooed with a sneer. "I mean, you can't even make stuff float off the ground yet, can you?"

Their other three siblings were watching the whole time with the answer already clear in their heads. Of course, Noah had no choice but to prove him wrong by trying to call on the magic deep inside herself to levitate the dresser. She'd succeeded, but instead of lifting the dresser off the ground, she'd sent it flying out the window, taking a huge chunk out of the wall.

Chiron had not been amused. Nor had the other five campers who'd been blasted twenty feet into the air thanks to the magic stones the cabin was made of. At least no one turned into a tree, she'd wanted to argue. But she kept her mouth shut and tried not to die from embarrassment.

"Noah, what're you trying to pull here?" Noah's head snapped up as Lou Ellen marched over to her, having given up on screaming at the owls.

"M-Me? I haven't—how should I know what's going on?" Noah spluttered, taking a half-step back as the counselor towered over her. She didn't fail to notice the hair scrunchy decorating Lou Ellen's wrist when she folded her arms across her chest, fixing a skeptical frown on her younger sister. Why were they always picking on her just because she was the youngest? Or because she sucked at magic?

"How can you be so sure it's Noah's fault?" Connor piped up. "Maybe she's been cursed by Athena."

"Not helping," Noah muttered. Though some part of her wondered if he could've been right.

She was still learning how to survive the reality of demigods and Greek mythology-turns-real, but one of the things she had learned right away was that the gods were temperamental and would have no trouble turning on you for whatever reason.

_Like __Hera __kicking __Hephaestus __out __of __Olympus __just __for __being __ugly,_ Noah remembered from one of her many painful mornings of having to study ancient Greek. At least it was easier than reading English thanks to her dyslexia. Then Noah remembered that Lou Ellen was still ticked off at her.

"Oh yeah? There's a letter inside with your name on it, so who else could have caused this?" she heard her sister say.

"A letter? I don't—" But then realization hit her harder than Connor had earlier and she hurried towards the cabin, not caring about all the eyes watching her back.

_It can't be_, she told herself.

The letter should have come on her eleventh birthday months ago. She remembered waiting all day and night for it, but to no avail. No letter and no explanation, only bitter disappointment that gnawed away at her. She knew her dad had felt the same way even when he tried to comfort her and tell her not to be upset, that maybe a mistake had been made.

And because she hadn't gotten her letter, her dad brought her to Camp while he moved back to England to get on with the rest of his life. He'd tried to cover it up with some stupid excuse in a note saying he was trying to keep her safe, but she could visit whenever she wanted.

Visit only. Not to come back and live with anymore.

He'd even scribbled his new address on a separate piece of paper, but she hadn't written back to him. There were some days she thought she would, but she forgot about it as soon as she started up another day of training.

Yet there it was—a thick, yellowed envelope with a purple wax seal of an elegant crest: a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large 'H.' Loopy green handwriting danced in front of her searching eyes, but she managed to make out what it said.

Noah Run

Half-Blood Hill

USA Long Island, New York

Cabin #20

She ignored Lou Ellen calling her from outside, demanding again to know what magic spell she had screwed up this time and tore into the letter with growing hope and fear.

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_To N. Run,_

_It is our pleasure to inform you that you've been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed are a list of required items and textbooks you will need. The term begins 1 September and your reply is expected no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress_

It took her an extra minute or so the get through the whole letter, but with each line her eyes grew wider and wider. This was really happening. It wasn't her ADHD acting up or the Mist playing tricks on her. She vaguely heard the sound of wings pushing against the wind as the owls flew off.

**O0O0O0O**

The rest of the day passed in a blur and even though Noah went on with her normal routine, it all felt so alien and distant to her with the Hogwarts letter tucked into her pocket so she could read through it again in between activities.

She couldn't even join in on the campfire songs, her mind too far away. She didn't know what scared her more, having to write her dad or the idea that her wish was actually coming true and that she'd get to see the real world again. She'd even asked her mom for guidance in a silent prayer as she gave her offering to the gods at dinner.

_Please help me figure out what to do._

She'd never had any real contact with the goddess before and wasn't sure whether to expect a sudden epiphany or to be struck by lightning as some kind of sign. If something was supposed to happen, it didn't.

It wasn't until the nighttime sky was littered with stars and the rest of camp was quiet that she sat on the front steps outside her cabin with a pen and paper. She spent a few minutes looking for different constellations before finally clenching the pen in her hand.

_Dear Dad,_

_It's __Noah. __How __are __you? __Sorry __I __haven't __written back to __you __until __now_—a part of her wasn't really, but it was the best transition she could come up with—_but __I __got __my __Hogwarts __letter __today._

_I would like to go, but I don't know how I'll manage the trip and everything. If you could help me out, thank you. If it's too much trouble, that's ok too. Hope you're ok and I still have your letter._

_Noah_

She stared at her writing, feeling her eyes prick when she got to the last line. She didn't know why she put that, only that maybe he should know. And _Love, __Noah_ would've been weird to use, she decided.

"Ok, that's done," she sighed to herself.

So she carefully folded the letter and went back inside, actually starting to feel a little better.


	3. Moody Interlude

**A/N: Another post in one day? I can't explain it other than I had this great idea come to me as I looked over this chapter. I just started writing and couldn't stop. All I can tell you guys is that I added one more character into this chapter and that even though the it looks unchanged in the beginning, don't scroll down too fast or you might miss the twist I put into Moody's and Dumbledore's conversation. Enjoy!**

_Disclaimer: I wish I owned these two series._

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><p><strong>Moody Interlude<strong>

It was late at night when Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody received an unexpected visitor.

The soft, polite knock was enough to spring him out of his comfy armchair, wand raised, and suspicious eyes darting around like mad. His lights were dimmed, but he could see perfectly and through his front door where a wizened man in glittering purple robes stood and gave a friendly wave with a twinkle in his eye. A familiar face, Moody recognized, but still he barked,

"Declare yourself!"

One could never be too careful. In times of war and, even more dangerously, in times of peace.

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, and a lover of lemon drops," came the old man's voice, as pleasant and patient as ever.

He was very convincing already, but Moody frowned deeply.

"Anyone could tell me that," he snapped. "You have three seconds to—"

"I am also a close friend of Alastor Moody, son of Hephaestus," the old man finished as if he hadn't been interrupted at all.

Moody's eyebrows rose into his scarred forehead: he was convinced now.

With a flick of his wand, the door gently creaked open, knocking into the cracked, spinning top resting nearby, along with a number of other strange objects from the old days. Yes, one could never be too careful.

Albus Dumbledore strolled inside the cluttered cottage as if he were coming back to his own home and gave a polite nod to Moody.

"Alastor, a good evening to you."

"And you, Albus," Moody replied gruffly, limping back to his armchair where he propped his feet—one wearing a slipper and the other, a wooden claw—onto the matching cushion.

"I see my defenses didn't give you any trouble, as usual." He rubbed his face where a grizzly shadow of a beard was quickly spreading.

"Oh, not much," Dumbledore said lightly, vanishing a wayward banana peel off his shoulder. "Though the dustbins are certainly a new touch."

"Bah! Been getting too many stray cats wandering about lately. Never know if one of 'em's a potential Animagus," Moody harrumphed.

"Yes, that's a valid precaution to take, as much as I _am_ fond of cats. Unique creatures they are indeed. If you remember, Professor McGonagall—"

"What do you want, Albus?" Moody didn't bother keeping the irritation out of his voice.

As brilliant as he was no matter his age, Dumbledore was clearly getting older and fonder of rambling about nothing. Nonetheless, the headmaster seemed to brighten at this urging and produced an empty envelope from his pocket.

"I thought you might find this interesting," he said, floating the envelope over as he took a seat in an empty chair across from Moody. He then held up his hand for a small goblet of brandy to appear with a _pop!_

"Nightcap, Alastor?"

Moody grunted with a stiff shake of his head as he snatched the envelope out of the air. He had only glanced down before his eyebrows shot into his forehead again, higher this time. Tonight was just full of surprises, especially for a man like him who knew the dangers that sometimes came with them—how typical of Dumbledore.

"I'll be damned," he murmured. "Camp Half-Blood, eh?" An ugly smile turned up the corners of his mouth while one of his eyes, the electric blue one, rolled about excitedly.

Dumbledore _hmm_'ed into his brandy and waited as Moody's mind worked furiously.

"Cabin twenty…twenty…that'll be Hecate's cabin, I'm sure. Feh, how appropriate. And the boy?"

"A girl, actually. Her father was a student…Ravenclaw, I believe. Efren Run was very studious, but he didn't stand out much…"

"But he scored himself a goddess anyway," Moody commented. "Good for him. But enough. What about—"

Before Moody could finish his question, the door upstairs opened and hurried footsteps came stumbling down. Moody mentally counted down three seconds exactly before a young girl with spiky, pink hair and ripped jeans appeared.

"Oh! Professor Dumbledore? What're you—ow! Shite!" In her excitement, the girl banged her knee against a brass basket, which clattered to the floor and spilled its bundle of scrolls all over the floor. "We really need to move that bloody thing, Mad-Eye," she muttered painfully.

In a manner that suggested he did his quite often, Moody lazily flicked his wand and set the basket upright with the scrolls neatly in place.

"Ah, Miss Nymphadora Tonks. Good to see you. How are things?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly with a tilt of his head.

The girl tried not to make a face at the use of her full name, but answered brightly, "They've been great, Professor, thanks!"

"And have you been here long?"

"All summer, actually. Mad-Eye's been prepping me for Auror training."

"I must say, I do like what you've done with your hair."

The girl blushed with a pleased look. "Thanks. It's a new look I'm trying out—"

Moody cleared his throat loudly to make his place in this conversation. "Yes, yes, pink is a bloody wonderful color!" he snapped, "But training is what you ought to be doing now, Nymphadora. Have you finished transcribing those codes I gave you?"

This time, the girl didn't hide her scowl. "Mad-Eye, how many times do I have to tell you _not_ to call me that? It's Tonks, all right?" She didn't want to whine, but it was bad enough that she had the name without everybody using it. She had to get this "Tonks" thing established before she went of to Auror training or else she'd be the laughing stock of all the other trainees.

Moody sighed and shook his head. "_Tonks_, then. Have you finished those codes yet?"

"Erm…almost. Halfway done, actually"—she shrunk a little under his hard gaze—"Oh, all right! I've done _one_! But they're dead boring, Mad-Eye. Can't I take a break with you guys for a bit?"

"Absolutely n—"

"Please have a seat," said Dumbledore, motioning to the sofa nearby.

Relieved, the girl hurriedly plopped herself there before Moody could protest. Dumbledore then conjured up a mug of butterbeer for her, which she gratefully took.

"Sure you won't have anything, Alastor?" he inquired again.

Again, Moody shook his head, now feeling pretty vexed with his guest for turning his own apprentice against him in less than ten minutes. Before he could sulk on this much longer, he quickly remembered their original conversation.

"So…" He looked over at the keen Tonks and chose his words carefully. "What about the girl?"

"What girl?" Tonks asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Dumbledore answered brightly.

Moody frowned, already not liking where this conversation was headed. "Did Chiron say anything about her?"

"Who's Chiron?"

"You know, I didn't think to ask Chiron. A very good idea, Alastor, I shall have to follow up on it."

"So why'd you come to me?" Moody growled, growing even more impatient with his longtime friend. "From what it sounds like, you know nothing about this girl, but you think she's important enough to bring to my attention in the middle of the bloody night even though you've completely ignored contacting Chiron."

And finally Tonks could bear it no longer.

"What on earth are you two talking about?" she burst out.

Both wizards turned and regarded her silently, but she refused to be embarrassed until they started making some sense.

"Well, Miss Tonks…I was hoping Alastor would agree to train a young girl, Noah Run, after she starts Hogwarts."

"_What?_" Moody growled, shooting up in his chair.

"A new apprentice? Seriously?" Tonks' heart-shaped face lit up with excitement.

Moody clenched the wand that was still in his hand as he emphasized his answer. "My answer is no, Albus. _No_. There isn't going to be any new apprentice—"

"But why not?" Tonks cut him off. "It'll be great—for me, that is. I love you to death, Mad-Eye, but you're so serious all the time. You need younger, more exciting people to be around—"

"Like yourself perhaps?" Moody rounded on her with a quirked eye-brow. "Another youngster running around and putting _another_ crack in my Foe Glass—"

"That only happened once! And it still works, doesn't it?"

Moody didn't even bother to reply this time, having learned long ago that arguing with his apprentice would only give him a serious headache later on. The girl was just so damned persistent! What if this other child that Dumbledore wanted him to take on was the same way?

Wait…why was he even worrying about that? There wasn't going to _be_ any new apprentice.

With a heavy sigh, Moody rubbed his grizzled face and wondered what he had done to deserve having these two suddenly gang up on him.

_Damn you, Dumbledore!_ He made sure that thought was loud enough just in case the old headmaster was using Legilimency on him.

If he was, he showed no sign or emotion other than the annoyingly calm look on his face as he sat perfectly happy with his conjured brandy. Oh, but Moody knew better.

"I had a feeling you might say that, Alastor, but I would only press you to think about it," Dumbledore said.

"I'm retired, Albus. I'm not training _anybody_." No demigod, or witch, or both.

But seeing her mentor's silence and brooding look that she had become very familiar with throughout the summer, Tonks found her last opening:

"Aw, come on, Moody. It'll be fun having another apprentice around and maybe she can help organize your potions cabinet like I used to."

Bingo. She'd said the magic words.

Moody's stubborn eyes glanced over to the tall wooden cabinet off in a corner of the room that had piles of recipe scrolls spilling out of the bottom shelves while the top shelves were equally cluttered with vials, herbs, and packets of various ingredients. He hadn't even tried to brew a potion in a long while because going through all of that crap took double the time than the actual brewing did.

Tonks did have a point…

_Oh bloody hell…Damn it all…_

Dumbledore took this moment to clear his throat. "Ahem…Miss Tonks, would you be so kind to give us a moment alone? That isn't to say I haven't enjoyed your company thus far—"

"Oh, no problem, Professor. I'll be Flooing home soon anyway. Goodnight."

Pleased that she had managed to get her own input in and that the headmaster had called her by her preferred name, Tonks skipped back up the stairs.

"Well…" Moody began after waiting to make sure she really was gone this time. He rolled his magical eye up to the ceiling and saw that she had indeed returned to her codes. "I take it you don't _just_ want me having this little twerp organizing my house, do you?"

"Well, to be honest, no. However, you may train her in whatever ways you see fit and I will not interfere."

Moody tapped his chin and again tried to figure out how the conversation had turned in Dumbledore's favor in less than an hour.

"So…Noah Run, eh? You do know that since she's a child of Hecate, she'll probably have another kind of magic also."

"I do. I also know that she's the first demigod to come to Hogwarts in about twenty years. Remember when we used to get so many of them? Powerful and dangerous children…"

"Yeah, well, that was before the fire moved to America."

"True, too true. Still, I am a bit curious about her and will be sure to keep a close eye on her…development." Dumbledore tipped the last of his brandy down his throat and sighed contentedly. Nothing like a nightcap.

"So what, Albus?" Moody asked, crumpling the envelope. "You afraid she'll turn out like the others?"

"While I sincerely hope that isn't the case, that's only part of the reason I came to you," Dumbledore replied, leaning forward.

Moody fixed both eyes on him and pursed his scowling lips. "And she'll probably find herself hunted even more once she really taps into her powers."

"There is that possibility, but I have complete confidence that you will train her well."

Moody grumbled to himself a little bit before speaking up again, "I won't promise anything, but…I'll wait and see if she's worth teaching before I start showing her anything _useful_."

Dumbledore nodded in agreement. "Yes, a true plan, Alastor. Well then, I bid you good night!"

And on that cheerful note, Moody blinked and watched Dumbledore vanish his goblet away and stand up to leave, not in any great hurry. Dumbledore placed his hand on the doorknob and disappeared into the night, gently closing the door behind him. Moody sat there and frowned, refusing to go to sleep until he figured out what his strange friend was up to. Yes, the old man had gotten what he wanted, but there was something he wasn't saying…

Even after all these years, it was hard to anticipate what tricks he might have up his sleeve. Or his hat. Or even his great, silver beard. One just never knew, and that was the main downside to their relationship.

"He must be going senile," Moody grumbled to himself.

Yes, that had to be it.


	4. The Know It All

**A/N: So, not too many changes to this one, except that I shortened the wand-shopping scene and added it on, so I can send Noah to Hogwarts in the next chapter. Also, Noah's relationship with her dad will be a little different too. Other than that, enjoy!**

_Disclaimer: I wish I owned these two series._

* * *

><p><strong>The Know-it-All<strong>

Two weeks later, Noah left for England, wishing she knew a spell for jetlag.

Right away, she had spotted everything wrong with London from its murky weather to the buzzing traffic crammed in narrow streets, to her dad's house—nothing like Camp Half-Blood.

It was bigger than Cabin #20 and her bedroom was an attic loft where she had to be careful not to sit up too fast in her bed—which was just a mattress crammed between walls—or else bang her head against the low ceiling. There was a small window that let enough sunlight come in, and a low, four-cabinet dresser sitting in a nearby corner. The whole place smelled nothing like their old home, but like teabags and old parchment.

Her dad, Efren Run, had apologized multiple times that there wasn't anything better, but she only shook her head.

"N-no. I-I'm fine, Dad. Really," she answered, not even looking at him as she examined her surroundings.

Of course, that was a lie. Every time she looked over the empty fireplace, the dishes that were washing themselves over the kitchen sink, and the stack of stamped and signed Ministry of Magic reports off in a corner, her stomach twisted into even more knots.

Nervous? Not even close. More like terrified out of her wits. Being alone with her own father was worse than being alone with Mr. D, the camp director.

"And that's saying something," she grumbled to herself.

"What was that?" her dad asked, trying to read her with puzzled eyes.

"Nothing."

He had the same dark, round face as hers and the same skinny build with his shoulders much broader and squarely poised six feet off the ground. Even though she knew how much she looked like him, she found herself occasionally trying to find the resemblance between them, or whatever it was that made him the father she remembered before going to camp.

She didn't see much of him over the next few days since he was mostly at work until late, but when Saturday finally came around, she eagerly kicked her blankets off and threw on a pair of jeans and her sneakers, and released the wooden stairs. Today was her first real trip into the wizarding world!

"Noah! Aren't you up yet?" her dad called from below.

"Coming!" she yelled back.

Her dad was waiting impatiently with the radio speaking behind him.

"_There is obvious unrest within the Ministry due to the recent disappearance of Pius Thicknesse, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He has been gone for three days and it is suspected that his abductors may have been Death Eaters. This group, which has attacked muggle-born witches and wizards in the past, seems to have—"_

"Hey, Dad, what are Death—"

"Ah, about time, Noah. Are you ready?" He flicked the radio off and held up a small bag that jingled with coins.

"Yeah…sure." This was the only thing that had kept her from going crazy at being cooped up in the house for the past few days. As her excitement grew, she quickly forgot about the boring news report.

Her dad had told her all about Diagon Alley when she was younger. About the cobblestone streets and how there were magical shops at every corner. Witches, wizards, goblins, and all other kinds of creatures would go there and it was impossible to see everything it had to offer in one day.

**O0O0O0O**

Located behind a small pub called the Leaky Cauldron in a quieter corner of London, Diagon Alley was everything Noah had imagined. The gloomy weather had cleared until it was cloudless and the streets seemed to glow in the sunlight.

She kept pointing out random things and asking her dad about them, but he only kept urging her to keep up and not stare at the hags, who were easily offended.

So she hurried after him only to slam into his legs when he stopped suddenly.

"Elaine! Fancy meeting you here!" she heard him call as she rubbed her throbbing nose.

She looked up and saw a huge, wriggly smile light up his face as he waved excitedly over the crowd. Seconds later, a very pretty, elf-like woman strolled over to meet them. She had silky black hair that neatly spilled past her slender, pale shoulder, and almond-shaped, hazel eyes that immediately brightened with recognition once they locked with Efren's dark ones.

"Efren," she greeted him politely, "it's good to see you. How are things?"

"I'm fine, thanks. How are you? I still hope I didn't cause you too much trouble by asking you to cover for me that day. I-I'll make it up to you. Maybe take you out to dinner, or…or"—But Elaine shushed him.

"I already told you that it was my pleasure," she said. "But if you insist on dinner…"

Noah didn't miss the way her eyes twinkled playful throughout the whole conversation, the same way the Aphrodite kids' did whenever they charmed someone during Capture the Flag. She glanced back at her dad and saw his eyes cloud over dreamily, his dopey smile still in place. It didn't take her long to figure out what was going on and she nearly gagged

_He's __got __a __girlfriend_? _Eurgh!_ She just barely stopped herself from making the actual disgusted noise somewhere in her throat, but it still caught the woman's attention.

"Oh! Is this Noah?" she asked, smiling down at the young girl, who had ducked her head to stare at her feet. Elaine held out a hand. "Your dad talks about you all the time."

Noah found that hard to believe, but she still shook the woman's hand.

"Yep! This is my little girl!" Efren answered brightly, swinging an arm around Noah's shoulder and squishing her against his side.

He didn't even look at her the whole time he stood there chatting with Elaine. She tried tugging on his arm to remind him that they still had loads more shopping to do, but he gently pulled away and told her to be patient. It was supposed to just be the two of them today!

Her eyes were prickling dangerously now—she was _not_ going to start crying here.

"And your son is at Hogwarts too, right?" The conversation was still going on, oblivious to the girl trying to steady her trembling bottom lip.

"Yes, he—shite! I better go and get him out of that Quidditch shop so we can go buy his books."

"What a coincidence! Books are the last things for us to get too!" Efren exclaimed, almost bouncing at the sudden idea that had struck.

"But…I thought you said you still needed to go to Madam Malkin's for Noah's robes, and get her potions equipment."

"Oh, right, right, there are those things," Efren spluttered stupidly, deflating a little. "Well, it'll have to be Monday. Good day then, Elaine."

"Bye, Efren. Bye, Noah."

Noah didn't even try to say goodbye before her dad dragged her off.

**O0O0O0O**

They raced to buy the rest of her school supplies that by the time they finally came to the bookstore, Flourish and Blotts, Noah was sure her legs were going to fall off at any second. She was just glad her dad had magicked all of her items back to the house or she would've collapsed under the weight of her pewter cauldron, or have been tripping over her bundles of new robes.

Efren spun around. "Oh, there you are, Noah. I was…erm…just looking for…Tell you what, why don't you wait here for me while I get your textbooks, hmm?"

"I can help find them—"

"There's a good girl. I'll be back in a jiffy." Once he spun around and disappeared without a second look back, Noah left to wander along the aisles of mountain-high shelves on either side of her, crammed with an endless amount of books.

Find her textbooks? How clueless did he think she was? As if the twenty times he'd slipped up earlier calling her 'Elaine' hadn't been a dead giveaway. Of course, she didn't care, she tried convincing herself. With him distracted, it gave her a chance to do some exploring without someone impatient with her for straying behind.

She had always liked to read and didn't mind that it took her a while to get through one page. Her eyes lingered on a few of the large, leather-bound books with elaborate decorations on the front before she spotted a section in the far corner of the store labeled MUGGLE LITERATURE.

There was already another girl, about her age and with hair wilder than Lou Ellen's, standing there and flipping through a huge black book. Noah noticed that while this section held a wide variety of titles, some classics and some contemporary, it was nothing compared to the rest of the store.

"Wow, it's just like my copy at home…" she heard the girl muttering to herself and couldn't help but glance over the girl's shoulder only to see a short inscription in the book, written in ancient Greek.

"'_And __thus __I __shall __relate __to __you __the __trials __and __tribulations __of __Odysseus __as __he __struggles __to __return __to __his __great __homeland __of __Ithaca_,'" she read aloud, the Greek writing making perfect sense to her.

"Is that what it _really _says?"

Noah looked up and saw the girl pinpointing her with a skeptical look as she hugged the book close to her to make sure Noah couldn't see the writing again, as if she'd been cheating on a pop quiz.

Startled, Noah's mouth bobbed open and closed like a fish's, her explanation sticking in her throat. "I-I-It was just a guess!" she spluttered. "I-I can't actually read ancient Greek. No one can 'cause it's ancient and…stuff."

With her face burning brightly, she looked away, but the girl only smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Well, I know that, but you sounded awfully sure of yourself," she said. "Have you read _The Odyssey _before?"

Grateful that she didn't have to explain anymore, Noah mustered up some courage to glance back at the girl for a better view of her face. She was actually quite pretty even with her large front teeth, and her smile seemed to light up her round face. There was a sense of wisdom behind those warm, brown eyes that was a lot like the Athena kids of Cabin #6.

"Uh, yeah," she said, shaking herself out of her daze. "A couple of times...f-for school."

Those last words were a quick save since it would've been pretty hard to explain that she lived at a summer camp where she'd been taught the language by a zillion-year-old centaur. It seemed to work because the girl perked up at this.

"So you're normal too? Like me? Are you going to Hogwarts too?" The words rushed out of her mouth so suddenly that it took Noah a moment to translate them.

"Um, no to the first question, but yes to the last one. I'm…a…half-blood. Yeah, that's right! A half-blood!" She nodded excitedly, realizing she didn't have to lie this time. "My dad's muggle-born, though."

"Muggle…born?" The girl frowned slightly.

"Yeah. Muggle is what you'd call a non-magical person," Noah explained. She felt a gentle flutter in her stomach as the girl carefully absorbed her words. It was kind of nice to know that she still remembered some things about the wizarding world so she didn't look like a complete idiot.

"Ok, I do remember Hagrid saying something like that…" The girl trailed off in thought for a moment before tentatively sticking her hand out to Noah. "I'm Hermione Granger," she said, tilting her chin up.

Noah blinked, her brain stopping long enough that she almost forgot how to respond to a handshake. Finally, she took the girl's hand with a firm enough grip to make sure this wasn't a dream.

"N-Noah R-Run." She mentally scolded herself for stuttering like a dork at a time like this.

Never in her life had she made a friend this easily before. At her old elementary school, she was always known as the stupid kid in the back whose knees always shook even when she was sitting down.

"Noah. That's a nice name," Hermione said, cutting into her thoughts. "And your accent is really neat too. Are you from here?"

Noah's brain first decided that it liked the way her name rolled off the girl's tongue with such ease.

"N-No, but my dad is. I grew up in America with...my…r-r-relatives." Once again, she'd just barely caught herself in her answers. "Anyway, I-I like your name too," she added quietly, staring down at their holding hands.

As much as she didn't want to, she had to let go when Hermione moved to put the book back on the shelf.

"Well, I just read through all of _Hogwarts, __A __History _a few minutes ago and I don't remember seeing anywhere that Hogwarts accepted American students," Hermione went on a little obnoxiously.

Noah just shrugged. "It might be because m-my dad went t-to school there."

"I got my letter not very long ago, but I was ever so pleased when I found out I was a witch. Maybe a little surprised too"—but Hermione actually sounded like she'd been expecting a letter all along—"England must be different from where you're from."

Noah didn't dare mention that she had thought she would never get a letter as she nodded. "It's pretty cool. It's not th-that different actually, except for the whole driving on the left thing. It kind of made me dizzy when I first got here."

To her surprise and excitement, Hermione giggled at this and she found herself wanting to do nothing more than to listen to that melodic sound all day. Pretty soon she joined in too.

"Getting on well without me already, Noah?"

Both girls turned around and saw Efren standing there with an armful of books.

"Hey, Dad. This is Hermione," Noah proudly presented her new friend.

"Nice to meet you, Hermione," he said. "Are you going to Hogwarts too? Noah, we really need to go get your wand. It's the last thing left on the list."

Noah started to open her mouth to protest having to leave so suddenly, even though her dad seemed to have already forgotten about Hermione in his hurry. To her greater horror, Hermione was also saying,

"Well, I'll let you go, Noah. I should actually find Hagrid so I can get my wand too."

"Why don't we go together?" Noah blurted, already blushing at her own audacity.

She was actually enjoying her new, albeit bossy, companion and wanted it to last as long as possible, especially if it kept her from being alone with her dad again for the rest of the day.

What if they never saw each other again at Hogwarts?

Even Hermione seemed a bit taken aback by the sudden invitation though a small smile was forming on her lips.

Now it was her turn to stutter. "I-I don't know, Noah. I'll have to ask."

Noah anxiously clenched her hands as soon as Hermione disappeared into the bookstore. She came back seconds later with a giant man whose head was just barely above the bookshelves he squeezed himself between, tipping them slightly before they rested on the ground again.

He had shaggy black hair on his head and face, and a coat that seemed to be made of nothing but pockets. A cold feeling of dread settled deep within Noah as she wondered if this guy was a Cyclops. Did that mean monsters could even attack her here? She backed up against the nearest shelf only to see that her dad was smiling brightly at the man.

"You're Hagrid, right?" he said, nodding his head in greeting.

"Yep, tha's me. Keeper of Keys and Grounds. I'm jus' helping young Hermione here with her school shoppin'." Then his beetle black eyes landed on Noah, which made a small squeak escape her lips. "Is this yer friend, Hermione?" he asked.

Noah couldn't believe that Hermione, who was about her same size, wasn't even afraid of this man as she looked up at him.

"Yes, Hagrid, this is Noah. Can I go with her to get my wand? I-It won't take long, I promise." She spoke in a rush again, which only made Hagrid chuckle. The floor trembled.

"Of course yeh can. After that, I'll take yeh back ter meet yer mum and dad," he said.

Noah's dad chimed in. "Why don't I let you guys go to Ollivanders on your own, Noah. You remember where I pointed it out to you earlier, right? Just meet us back here when you're done."

This made Noah tear her wide eyes away from Hagrid and focus them on her dad as she slowly processed his words. A small fire of excitement started to melt away her fear.

She'd be alone with Hermione again! And away from the giant man!

"Yeah, that s-sounds fine," she croaked out.

Her dad handed her several galleons and she'd just dropped them in her pocket when Hermione impatiently grabbed her hand and dragged her back outside.

A heavy sigh of relief rushed out of Noah's chest that didn't go unnoticed by her companion.

"What is it, Noah? Are you ok?" Despite her concern, Hermione didn't slow her pace at all, still keeping a firm hold on Noah's hand.

Noah blushed at the contact, but that didn't make her forget about Hagrid.

"Who was that? What _was_ he?" she replied instead.

"That was Hagrid. He's the keeper of the keys. Weren't you listening?"

"O-Of course I was, but…he's not human, is he?" Noah stole a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure they weren't being hunted.

"Um, I think he told me he was a half-giant," Hermione answered.

"You mean Cyclops," Noah countered, which earned her a strange look from the pair of light brown eyes.

"No, I mean half-giant. Cyclopes aren't real and they have only one eye. You've read too much _Odyssey_, Noah." She giggled, which made a goofy smile stretch Noah's face as she promptly forgot what a Cyclops was anyway.

**O0O0O0O**

By the time, both girls had left the small wand shop _Ollivanders: __Makers __of __Fine __Wands __since __382 __B.C._, the sun was beginning to dip behind the buildings as the sky turned a deeper shade of calm purple-blue.

"We've got our wands, No! I can't believe you did that with the wands though," Hermione exclaimed.

She was referring to the strange incident that had finally found Noah her wand—eleven and a half inches, made of juniper, and with the core of dragon heartstring. A warm feeling had suddenly washed over her and all the wands in the shop had rattled in their boxes as if trying to escape.

Then, all at once, it stopped.

"It wasn't on purpose," Noah muttered modestly. "It just…happened."

"If you say so… I mean, he did say that you had great potential." Noah didn't miss the strange edge in her voice that didn't sound angry, but not too happy either. Jealous, maybe?

Noah shook her head. _There's __no __way. __She __can __read __a __whole __book __in __a __few __minutes __after __all…_

Besides, her potential was about as great as a Cyclops' brain. She was just glad she hadn't blown up one of the shelves or something.

Hermione's hand slipped into her own as if by instinct and gave a tug. "What do you think he meant by 'the wand chooses the wizard'?"

Noah only shrugged, half-hearing her with the warm tingles shooting up her arm. And her head suddenly felt very heavy with thoughts off all that had happened today.

"Dunno, but I bet he says it to everybody. Y'know, like in car insurance commercials on TV. _The __car __chooses __the __driver_." She did her best to imitate the deep narrating voice, which made them both burst out laughing. They hadn't even realized they were back at Flourish and Blotts.

"There you are!" Efren called to them. "Noah, what took you so long? Did you get lost?"

Noah nearly groaned as he and Hagrid came to meet them. Not only had her time with Hermione gone by all too quickly, but now she was back to her dad treating her like she was still a baby in front of everyone.

"No, we didn't get lost," she grumbled. "It just t-took a while to get our wands."

"Maybe I shouldn't have let you go off alone," he went on, not even hearing her. "Why don't you say goodbye to your little friend."

She wanted to yell at him that she wasn't five years old and that she'd much rather be with her "little friend" than him and his new girlfriend anyway, but she swallowed it back as she turned to Hermione.

"I'll see you soon?" she asked in a small, hopeful voice. She realized they were still holding hands and ventured to gently squeeze Hermione's.

"Of course, No. I'm going to go home and start reading all my new books to get ready," Hermione replied, returning the gesture.

"What'd you just call me?" Noah asked, looking slightly amused.

"Oh, um, I guess I shortened your name…I'm sorry—"

"No! I like it," Noah argued. "Just…don't call me No-no."

Hermione smiled. "Deal. And let's talk about everything when we see each other again since you're not nervous around me anymore."

"I…what?"

"Well, you stopped stuttering, so I just thought—"

"All right, Noah, let's be on our way now." Noah's shoulder's sagged when her dad's voice cut through again and Hermione released her hand to wave goodbye.

Then Noah realized that she _had_ stopped stuttering around Hermione, which made her feel much lighter on her feet as she went to catch up with her dad.

She usually didn't get comfortable around new people so fast, except for Connor, but she had still tripped over her words even a few days after meeting him. With Hermione, she'd felt much more relaxed and eager to talk. And she could still feel the soft fingers closed around her own…

As soon as she and her dad arrived back home, she climbed up to her attic room without waiting for dinner and started pouring over her new books. Her mind was already rehearsing for her next meeting with the bushy-haired girl, who stayed on her mind long after she finally went to sleep.


	5. Beads Boys Boarhounds

_Disclaimer: I wish I owned these two series._

* * *

><p><strong>Beads Boys Boarhounds<strong>

Noah wandered along the aisle of the Hogwarts Express feeling pretty stupid with her school robes gathered in her arms as she desperately searched for Hermione.

Nearly all the compartments were filled with other students who had already found their friends and were chatting excitedly. But there was no sign of the know-it-all girl she'd been anxious to see all morning. The train had departed Platform 9 ¾ only a little while ago, so now she could only hope that her friend hadn't missed it.

"You there!"

Noah spun around and saw a tall, redheaded boy strutting over to her with his nose high in the air and a shiny badge gleaming on his chest.

"You can't just wander the hallways like this," he said snippily. He glanced over her with an almost bored look on his freckled face. "You must be a first-year. I'm a prefect and if you need to change into your school robes, the bathroom's that way."

"B-But I—" Before Noah could manage an explanation, the boy promptly ushered her into a single, cramped room and shut the door.

"And don't take too long! Others will need to change too!"

_Oh, shut up, _Noah thought irritably, but then couldn't stop her grin.

She looked down at her hand where she held the shiny badge; its elaborate 'P' engraved in the center twinkling in the light.

Well, at least she hadn't gotten rusty, she mused to herself. Connor would've been sorely disappointed if all the tips and practice he'd put her through had gone to waste after only a few weeks away from Camp. Besides, that snooty boy had made it too easy. But now what to do with the stupid badge? Better yet, how long would it take the boy to realize it was missing?

Ignoring the temptation to just flush it down the toilet, she pocketed the badge and would worry about what to do with it after she found Hermione.

**O0O0O0O**

After adjusting her wizard's hat, Noah stepped back in the bright train corridor.

"There you are!"

Noah looked up, thinking the snooty boy had caught her, but instead she was nearly tackled to the floor in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh, Noah, I was so worried you didn't even come!" Hermione exclaimed into her shoulder as they straightened themselves up.

"O-Of course I c-came," said Noah softly, electrical tingles prickling all over her body and warming her up at the same time. "Where were you?"

"Oh, I was helping Neville look for his toad and"—Almost as quickly as Hermione had hugged her, she drew back with a curious frown on her face. Noah was about to ask what was wrong but stopped when she felt cool fingers trace down her neck and lift up the necklace hanging there.

"What's this, No?" asked Hermione, fingering the smooth, decorated bead dangling at the end. "It's very pretty…"

It was deep blue, with a golden dresser—the one from Cabin #20—painted in the center and tiny, upside down stick figures on the sides.

"Oh, er…u-umm, my relatives gave it to me," Noah spluttered with her face burning all the way down to her neck—mostly from how close Hermione face was to hers that she could smell the raspberry shampoo in her hair.

In her excitement of getting ready this morning, she hadn't even realized that she'd automatically put the necklace on like she always did back at Camp. She couldn't wear her orange t-shirt in public, but she could at least keep the necklace so she had something to remind her of her home.

"Those pictures are neat too…are they supposed to mean something?"

"No!" Noah squeaked.

Maybe too abruptly because it seemed to startle Hermione into finally realizing that they were only inches apart that they could feel each others' breathing.

"Oi! Get a room, you two!"

Hermione took a few hurried steps back while Noah snapped her head in the direction the voice had come from. Standing in the doorway of a compartment was a boy with dark, tousled hair that rivaled Noah's while his two friends snickered behind him. He was smirking and it suddenly reminded her strongly of Simon.

"W-W-We weren't d-doing anything," Noah mumbled awkwardly to her feet only to hear snorts of laughter.

"Man, she stammers worse than our old house-elf did," laughed the taller boy. The other two joined in.

Noah bit her lip as it started to tremble. She couldn't help it that she was shy around others! And she didn't stammer _all_ the time.

"Oi, Michael, maybe your old elf could give her speech lessons," the first boy snorted.

_And maybe I could kick you in your soft spot,_ Noah thought, but she couldn't get the words to come out of her mouth. Curse her shyness!

"Leave her alone," Hermione snapped, coming to her side. "She hasn't done anything to you. Let's go, Noah."

With that, she grabbed her friend's shaking hand and marched away from the trio of cooing boys.

"Oooooo…see ya, No-no!" a voice called.

_Jeez! Why does everyone have to call me that?_ Noah wanted to scream.

Hermione closed the compartment door and Noah slumped into the nearest seat, trying not to look humiliated. But then she noticed a plump, brunet boy who looked almost as miserable as she did.

"Hi," he murmured, twiddling his thumbs in his lap. He tried to smile, but quickly fell into despair again.

"Noah?" Hermione sat next to her. "Just forget about them, ok? You didn't deserve all that. And you _don't_ stammer that badly, at least not around me."

Noah shook her head weakly, smiling at the soothing voice. "Of course, not around you. I mean, you…you've been great so far and I…it's easier to talk…" She trailed off before she could ramble on anymore, but Hermione just smiled.

"Thanks, No..." She turned in her seat to face Noah and gestured to the boy. "But enough! This is Neville Longbottom."

Startled by the sudden change in topic, Noah was still grateful for her friend's attempt to cheer her up.

"Er, hi…" Noah mumbled awkwardly. "Did y-you find your t-toad?"

He shook his head. "No," he moaned, "and Gran's gonna k-kill me. My uncle gave me Trevor after he pushed me out the window."

"He _what_?" Noah and Hermione cried at the same time. Hermione looked completely horrorstruck.

"Why would he—? Th-That's really m-messed up," Noah added, her eyes just as wide.

"Oh n-no, it was all right! My magic finally showed up and I bounced…s-so they finally realized that I wasn't a Squib."

Hermione then got over her shock and proceeded to bombard the shaking boy with one question after another. What's a Squib? Do wizarding families often test their kids to see if they have magic?

_Jeez…and I thought I had it bad with my dad_, Noah thought with a shake of her head.

And they all continued to chat until the sky darkened and Hogwarts castle eventually came into view. Noah felt a hand shakily clutch her knee.

"We're here, No," whispered Hermione. "We're really here."

**O0O0O0O**

The Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station at a steady halt.

Students excitedly clambered onto the platform in a loud clamor. The added cat yowls, owl hoots, and toad croaks didn't make it any easier for Hagrid to make himself heard at the end of the platform.

"Firs' years this way!" he called from underneath his shaggy beard.

Noah shivered as soon as she landed on solid ground, her breath floating before her in icy puffs. She didn't even have time to blink before the large crowd shoved her along towards the lake where dozens of small boats sat on the calm water.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid ordered. "An' don't mind Fang. He jus' didn't want ter stay at home tonight."

A rather large boarhound sat at his feet with droopy eyes watching the children scurrying to follow Hagrid's command.

As Noah searched for a boat, she soon became aware of someone close on her heels. She turned and saw the dog sniffing her keenly.

"Um…hey there, boy." She reached down and scratched behind his ear.

_Ah, that feels quite nice._

Startled, Noah spun around, expecting to see someone. There was nothing.

"Who said—"

_I did._ The dog gave her an expectant look.

Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "You?"

Now, she felt kind of ridiculous talking to him out loud.

"Noah! Over here!"

She tore her eyes away from the dog and saw Hermione waving her over to the boat she shared with Neville. Noah hurried over and climbed in, but they all cried out when the boat rocked suddenly as Hagrid's dog jumped in behind her. But before any of them could say anything or try to shoo him out, they were already moving across the murky water.

**O0O0O0O**

"Seems as tho' Fang's taken quite a liking ter yeh, Noah. Don' be scared of him tho'. He's a bloody coward at heart!" Hagrid chuckled as his boat pulled up next to theirs.

_Pah! A coward, he says! Just because I have the common sense not to fool around with dangerous monsters twice my size._

Noah startled again at the voice she kept hearing.

Fang. The great boarhound who kept insisting that someone—namely Noah—scratch behind his ears. As hard as she had tried to ignore the dog and convince herself she wasn't going crazy, he kept nuzzling her with his wet nose and inching more of his body into her lap.

_Now, please? There's just one more spot that's REALLY bothering me._

"You said that about the spot on your stomach, and your other ear, _and _under your chin—"

"I think Noah really likes Fang too, Hagrid," Hermione snickered, her eyes never leaving her flustered friend. "She keeps holding such an _interesting_ conversation with him."

Neville, who was looking more cheered since Hagrid had returned him his toad, joined her. Noah gave them a halfhearted glare at the playful teasing that reminded her of Connor for the briefest of seconds. She would've been happier if Fang hadn't just plopped his heavy head onto her lap and licked her hand, putting more drool on her body.

_Please? _Wide eyes stared up at her innocently.

She groaned, but finally relented and raked her fingers against the back of his head in quick motions that made his leg twitch like crazy.

"Are you a magical dog or something?" she asked in a low voice as soon as Hermione turned away.

_Nope. Not in the slightest. Ah, you're quite good at this scratching business. Yeah, right there, thanks…_

His voice sounded very refined and didn't match his droopy look at all.

"Then how can I understand you?"

_You're the magical one, aren't you? You figure it out. All I know is that as soon as you walked by me, I could tell you'd be a very good Scratcher. So I asked you to scratch for me._

"Er, y-you're welcome, I guess…"

So she wasn't crazy…she could just talk to dogs. Great.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I always wondered what Fang would sound like if he could talk and now I know. I pictured him with a Stephen Fry kind of voice…or Sean Connery.**

**And I couldn't resist using the "soft spot" line from _Lightning Thief_.**

**There's a reason why Noah can talk to dogs that will be explained later, but go ahead and guess at it! Review and let me know what you think of chapter! Thanks for reading!**


	6. The Sorting Ceremony

**Cute penguin: You are correct!**

**Miria: I had fun with talking Fang too. You'll just have to read and find out to see what House Noah gets into!**

**And to Ryanabeth H. Deveroux and DalekDvros, I hope you got my replies. Thanks for reviewing.**

**My classes will be starting soon, but I'll try to update every seven days or so from now on.**

**Enjoy the new chapter and all feedback is welcome. If there's anything I can do to better show Noah's and Hermione's growing bond, or if there are any ideas on how I could bring more PJO into the story, let me know!**

_Disclaimer: I wish I owned these two series._

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><p><strong>The Sorting Ceremony<strong>

Even though Noah was surrounded by dozens of boys and girls her own age, she suddenly felt very alone.

They were all being led by a sour-faced witch through a stony entrance hall, flaming torches lighting their way as they mounted the marble staircase towards the upper floor. When they reached a pair of gilded double doors, the witch—Professor McGonagall—whirled around to face them. Noah found she didn't like the way the woman was sizing her up with those beady, calculating eyes and secretly hoped that she didn't have any classes with her.

"In just a moment, you will all enter the Great Hall to be sorted into one of the four Houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin…"

Hadn't Hermione mentioned something about Gryffindor being the best House? While McGonagall droned on about the rules, Noah squeezed her eyes shut and hoped with all her might that she would be in the same house as Hermione. It was almost too scary to imagine being separated from the one person who loved to read as much as she did. Someone who didn't think she was too boring, or too stupid, or too weird to be around.

"What is it, No?" Hermione's whispering voice cut into her silent prayer as the girl watched her worriedly.

"N-Nothing. Just thinking—"

"PROFESSOR! PROFESSOR!" The voice was howling and distraught. And suddenly familiar, Noah realized.

She glanced up and saw that McGonagall was staring ahead and looking somewhat alarmed by the sudden interruption. She turned around and saw the snooty boy from the train frantically pushing first-years out of his way.

"My badge is gone! My prefect's badge!"

McGonagall's eyes bulged. "Mr. Weasley! Honestly—"

"Stolen, I say! It was my brothers! Fred and George!"

The boy shoved Noah out of his way so roughly that she almost fell over, but she grabbed his robes to stay on her feet. He scowled down at her and yanked his robes free. Stupid first-year!

"You have to do something, Professor! Right now!"

As obnoxious as this boy was, Noah almost felt sorry for him when McGonagall's nostrils flared. Almost.

"Mr. Weasley, this is unacceptable!" boomed McGonagall. "Have you truly lost your badge?"

The boy stamped his foot. "It's not lost! It's stolen!" he insisted. "I've looked everywhere."

"Everywhere, Weasley?" McGonagall inquired even though her patience was wearing thin now.

"Yes! In my trunk…my compartment…In my pock…ets?"

The Gryffindor prefect looked down at his robes and gingerly patted his pockets. He felt something. He dug inside and triumphantly pulled out the gleaming badge.

"Aha! I've found it!" He carefully tacked it back to the front of his robes for all to see.

"_Weasley!_" McGonagall nearly shrieked. Her eyes narrowed into slits and her nostrils turned white. "How _dare_ you—? Thirty points from Gryffindor!"

The Weasley prefect looked horrorstruck and Noah thought he was going to have a mental breakdown when he started stammering worse than she did.

"B-B-But…I've n-n-never lost p-points—"

"I suggest you go with the rest of your House to the Great Hall before I take more," McGonagall snapped, slowly reigning in her temper. "And you better learn to keep track of your badge or I'll have to reconsider you remaining a prefect."

With his mouth dangling open, the Weasley prefect trudged away, the first-years making way for him in case he went crazy again. Noah could hardly keep her face straight as she bit down on her tongue.

Connor would've been proud, she thought. And maybe that would teach the Weasley prefect to push her around. When she turned back to the front, McGonagall was looking straight at her. Her breath caught in her throat and she hurriedly ducked her head.

Had the witch seen her? But there was no way!

**O0O0O0O**

"…Now, if you're all smartened up and ready, follow me," McGonagall finished.

The messy-haired boy from the train only rolled his eyes at the idea of even bothering with his crooked tie while one of the twin girls in front of her quickly straightened her barrette. Noah nervously ran her fingers through her own hair in a vain attempt to smooth it down. There was no point bothering with the rest of her clothes since her school robes were already too big for her scrawny form.

Hermione giggled at her side before reaching up to twirl one of the unruly strands around her finger.

"I don't think that's going to work," she whispered.

"Ha ha. Look who's talking," Noah deadpanned, pulling the other girl's hat over her eyes.

Hermione giggled even harder and gently elbowed her in the side.

McGonagall beckoned them to follow her as she pushed the doors open. Once Noah stepped into the Great Hall, she felt a rush of excitement so strong that her breath caught in her throat.

"Wow…" she gasped, trying to see as much as possible.

The Great Hall was amazing! A huge dining room with arch windows and four long tables, each splendidly decorated with fine linen and golden plates and goblets that gleamed in the light, sitting in front of the hundreds of students awaiting the first-years' arrival. Way at the front of the Hall was a high table where the school staff resided. But what really amazed Noah was the ceiling, which looked just like the nighttime sky only with thousands of floating candles.

She still couldn't believe this was all really happening, and so fast too. It certainly made the awkward days she'd spent at her dad's worth it and she couldn't wait to tell Connor everything when she got around to writing him a letter.

"Boot, Terry!"

Noah was startled out of her thoughts just as the boy from the train nervously made his way up to the three-legged stool where McGonagall placed an old, patched wizard's hat on his head.

The Sorting had begun.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Her mouth fell open, but then she had to bite her tongue to keep from bursting with laughter. Her dad had told her about the talking hat, but seeing it now just made the whole thing seem hilarious. A roar of applause erupted from the table underneath the blue and bronze banner as the boy happily found a seat.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Noah felt her heart do excited backflips when Hermione's warm hand slipped into hers. She looked over and was a little relieved to see that Hermione was just as anxious as she was.

"Your hands are all clammy," she whispered to Noah with a weak grin. "This is great, isn't it? The ceiling's enchanted to look like the sky."

Noah nodded slowly as she held on tighter to Hermione's hand. She was already starting to feel a little better.

"Hey…w-we'll be friends no matter what, right?" she asked just as "Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" was sorted into Hufflepuff. "I mean…we'll both be in the same House, don't you think?"

A startled look crossed Hermione's face before she gave an understanding smile that made her seem older than she was. A small squeak escaped from Noah when Hermione released her hand and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You'll always be my best friend, No, and nothing can ever change that. Don't worry about anything," said Hermione, her tone hinting that there would be no arguments.

Even though it was a nice hug, Noah's face burned with embarrassment at the stares they were receiving, especially when Terry Boot began to entertain his snickering friend by pretending to faint with distress before flashing her a haughty smirk. She glared back at him just as McGonagall called, "Granger, Hermione!"

The two girls sprung apart and exchanged nervous looks one last time before Hermione hurried up to the stool and put the hat on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted.

Noah clapped wildly as Hermione bounded over to join her new housemates, looking very relieved. Now all Noah had to do was make it into Gryffindor too even though she didn't think herself to be very brave or daring…

_But we will be in the same House! We've just got to be!_ she thought firmly, trying to boost her own confidence. The unnerving realization was sinking in that this ridiculous hat held her fate in its…seams?

It seemed to take forever for McGonagall to go through all the names.

MacDougal…Patil…Potter…leading up to—

"Run, Noah!"

Shakily, Noah walked forward, hating the feeling of hundreds of eyes watching her as she sat on the stool. Before long, however, she found herself staring into the black inside of the hat.

"Run, eh? The name sounds familiar," said a tiny voice, making her start as though a fly had buzzed near her ear. "Of course, the last one wasn't a demigod."

_You know about me?_ She thought anxiously, glad that no one could see her shocked expression.

"Well, of course! It's been a while, but I'd recognize a child of Hecate who needs to be Sorted from a mile off." The hat sounded quite offended. "Plus, I can read your mind like a book. I even know about the little trick you played on Percy Weasley. Tsk tsk. No matter, I didn't like that boy much anyway. But where to put you, little demigod?"

_Please say Gryffindor, please say Gryffindor,_ she thought desperately, trying to picture Hermione cheering for her when the hat said—

"I'm not so sure about Gryffindor, my dear."

Noah just barely stopped herself from protesting out loud.

_What? Why not? I promised I would be! I can be brave!_

"You're more cunning than you seem, girl, but Slytherin certainly won't fit you either," the hat continued on as if it hadn't heard her. "Your loyalty is even more impressive than Helga herself. Curious indeed…"

_What if I trade you the prefect's badge for putting me in Gryffindor?_ she tried.

The hat laughed so loud that she nearly fell out of the chair in surprise.

"Ha! I like you, Run. And you've got potential, I'll give you that. However, I can't say I know where it will take you…

"And that's why I'll choose…RAVENCLAW!"

**O0O0O0O**

"It wasn't us!"

"Though it's an _oh so_ tempting idea…"

Percy glowered at his twin brothers. Fred and George. Not just Fred. And not just George. One was never without the other, and together they were the bane of his existence.

"I _know_ you took it. And you nearly cost me my prefect title! I'm telling Mother for sure about this!"

"Oooo, surprise, surprise," Fred scoffed. He and George rolled their identical eyes in perfect synchronization.

Their mother, Mrs. Weasley, probably had a file cabinet just like Filch's of all the letters Percy had sent her tattling on all the misdeeds they got up to. He seriously needed a better hobby.

As Percy marched up to his dorms to make good on his threat, they went back to turning Lee Jordan's giant spider into different colors.

"Percy's a total mental case," said George, turning the spider neon green.

"More so than usual?" Fred answered. "Wonder who _did_ pull that trick on him though…"

"Uh oh…are the Weasley Twins worried about their big bro?" said Lee Jordan, mildly.

He glanced over his shoulder at the thinning group of first-years who were looking around at the warm, golden common room in awe. He and the twins had already come up with the theory that it could've been one of the new students since Percy had been bossing them around the whole time on the Hogwarts Express, but that seemed highly unlikely. Not many eleven-year-olds were that clever or _that fast_ to have nicked the badge and then slip it back on him at such perfect timing.

"Well, of course we're worried about our _favorite_ brother—"

"'Cause we're the only who should be pulling tricks on him." By now, Lee was used to how his best friends always managed to finish each other's sentence and laughed at their joke.

"Can't you p-play w-with that thing somewhere else?" whined the youngest Weasley brother, Ron. His knees were knocking together as his blue eyes looked everywhere else but the hairy arachnid crawling about.

"Oh, don't worry, Ronniekins. We won't let the big, bad spider hurt you," cooed George.

"Yeah, why don't you and Harry go up and get your beauty sleep? Big day, tomorrow," Fred added.

Ron gulped miserably and allowed his best friend, a bespectacled boy with crazy, black hair to lead him upstairs.

"Let's go, Ron. I've still got some candy that Mum packed for me," said Harry Potter.

"Is it that spicy chocolate she got from her mission in Sweden?" Ron asked hopefully, already forgetting his fear of spiders.

Harry grinned. "Definitely. She managed to get some before Dad nicked 'em all to snack on at work."

Ron snickered, knowing full well how Harry's dad, James Potter, liked to eat sweets to distract himself from writing his reports on the Auror missions he and his wife went on.

Once the two friends were up the stairs, Fred, George, and Lee all exchanged looks with each other.

"Do you think…?"

"Either one of them…?"

"To Percy?"

They all thought about it for a minute and then simultaneously agreed with a shake of their heads, "Nah!"

Ron would've been too scared of Percy telling their mom and Harry was simply too noble with his Auror parents and whatnot.

As soon as the rest of the first-years were up in bed and Lee Jordan was out of breath from laughing so hard, things settled down in the Gryffindor common room. It was time for the three boys to start planning their first prank of the year even though Fred kept staring off distractedly and muttering to himself.

"What's that, bro?" George asked, popping a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor jelly bean into his mouth.

He almost gagged. Tartar sauce. He still wasn't very good at finding the right flavors.

"Whoever stole Percy's badge…Really wish _we'd_ thought of it." Fred wistfully stared off at the fantasy of seeing McGonagall yell at his brother.

A lot of the first-years had been talking about how veins had popped up on her neck, but man, he wished he'd been there. Somehow…they'd have to get to the bottom of this mystery thief.

"Yeah, it _was_ brilliant," Lee agreed. "Well, guys, we'd better catch up quick or someone will be stealing our places as Hogwarts' Number One Pranksters."

"Right you are, Lee!"

"Could you all _please_ quiet down some?"

Startled by the bossy voice, the three older boys looked over their shoulders and saw a small girl watching them intently. She was off in a corner by herself and with ink-stained hands holding her quill that was already scratched down to a nub.

"And you are…?"

A flicker of surprise seemed to cross her face that made her look suddenly vulnerable.

"M-Me? Oh! Um, I'm Hermione Granger. This is my first year and I just wanted to be sure I'm all caught up with my notes just in case there's a pop quiz or—"

"Whoa, slow down there, little firstie," Fred said, holding his hands up.

"That was, like…ten words per second," remarked Lee, scratching his dreadlocked head.

"More than our mom has ever managed," George added.

Hermione blushed horribly and stared at her feet to avoid their wide-eyed looks. At least Noah hadn't looked at her like that. In fact, her friend hadn't seemed much bothered by any of the quirks that had gotten Hermione teased for in the past.

"S-Sorry, I…I do that a lot…"

George shrugged. "Whatever. Shouldn't you get some sleep?"

He found himself partly concerned because of her already-obsessive study habits, but he and the others also really wanted to hurry up and delve back into their plans for mayhem.

Hermione hesitated and bit her lip. Honestly, she'd been avoiding going up to her dorm so she wouldn't have to be reminded that her best friend wasn't there with her. She was excited to get into Gryffindor (Headmaster Dumbledore's old House, she had told Noah), but now she was wondering if she'd be able to sleep at all. The plans and daydreams she'd had about staying up late with Noah, trading secrets, and giggling over silly things seemed so far away now.

"So, er, Hermione…have you made any friends yet?" Lee asked when she hadn't answered for a whole minute.

Snapped out of her thoughts, Hermione nodded vigorously, her wild hair flying everywhere. "Yes! Well…my friend Noah is in Ravenclaw…" That same sad look cast a shadow over her face.

_Those two must be pretty close_, Fred wondered.

But then she brightened again. "But my roommates are really nice too."

As if on cue, a bubbly, curly-haired first-year wearing brightly-colored pajamas came skipping down the stairs.

"Oh, _there_ you are, Hermione!" she said sweetly.

"Hi, Lavender," Hermione greeted her shyly. She still couldn't believe such a sweet and pretty girl would want to talk to her.

"I was wondering," Lavender began, hugging her close. "Well, actually, _Parvati_ was wondering if she could copy those notes you already made. I told her not to bother you about such a thing before our first day, but she really wants to be ready so her parents won't give her even more of a hard time."

"Why would they do that?" Hermione asked, genuinely concerned.

"As soon as they find out that she didn't get into Ravenclaw like her sister, they won't be too happy. Their whole family's been there and…well, she doesn't want them to think that she won't study hard just because she's in Gryffindor."

"But shouldn't Parvati make her own notes?" Hermione said with a slight frown.

"_Please_, Hermione. It'll only be for a few minutes. And we'll make it up to you. Promise."

Hermione bit her lip. She didn't approve of copying much, but they were her roommates. Her mom did always say that to get a little, you had to give a little too.

"Oh…all right. They're in my trunk."

"Thank you _so_ much! I promise we'll make it up to you soon," Lavender gushed breathlessly.

Then she gave her a tight squeeze and went back upstairs without a second glance back.

The three boys watched this scene before them before exchanging knowing looks with each other. They had seen hundreds of girls like this Lavender before and knew that it'd be a _long _while before she would "make it up" to Hermione.

Fred cleared his throat. "Well, er, Hermione…a word to the wise: don't study too hard or your brains'll fall out, ok?"

Hermione frowned skeptically. "That's not possible, you know," she said pointedly.

These boys were pretty weird, but at least they weren't teasing her.

George added, "And also, if you need any help getting around this crazy castle, just ask for the services of George Weasley"—he pointed to himself.

"Lee Jordan."

"And Fred Weasley!"

At this, Hermione was taken aback at first, but then she was almost bouncing. Her first night and she was already meeting so many new people!

"Thank y-you," she stammered. "Well, then, goodnight." She gathered up her things and trotted up to bed.

She felt a little better now, but there still was a small part of her that hoped her shy friend missed her as much as she did right now.


	7. Beginnings

**Cute penguin: Yep! Dogs are to Noah what horses are to Percy.**

**To address Ryanabeth's question,yes, Harry's parents are alive because Voldemort was cursed. Harry grew up normal and he won't be much of a major character in this story.**

**I had a hard time with this chapter, because I wasn't sure whether Hermione should show up or not and I wanted to force Noah to survive on her own for a little while, without Connor or Hermione around.**

**Enjoy the new chapter!**

_Disclaimer: I wish I owned these two series._

* * *

><p><strong>Beginnings<strong>

Excitement filled the Great Hall the next morning as hundreds of owls zoomed overhead and students filed in to help themselves to the delicious, magical food that awaited them. The enchanted ceiling above looked like it had been covered with a large, blue blanket and decorated with wispy clouds.

Noah sat by herself at the Ravenclaw table, feeling both anxious and disillusioned about the first day of classes. Not only had she been separated from her best friend all thanks to a stupid hat, she'd also found herself sharing a room with a bunch of giggling girls who had talked through most of the night about strange, magical things and made it very hard for her to fall asleep.

A part of her had wanted to stay awake and listen to their conversations about house-elves and how funny looking the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrel, was. She'd even considered joining them, but the though left her mind just as quickly. She'd never been very good at approaching new people and could only imagine how stupid she would look trying to pretend she knew what she was talking about from the little she remembered of her dad telling her about the wizarding world.

Her mood went further downhill when she spotted Hermione talking animatedly with a few other kids over at the Gryffindor table. A cold, lonely lump settled in her throat and her eyes began to sting. It wasn't fair! This wouldn't be happening if they'd just been sorted into the same house and by the looks of it, Hermione was already getting on well without her…

"Still moping over your ickle friend, Runny?"

Noah turned towards the voice and saw Terry Boot laughing with his two other friends. One was the boy he'd been goofing off with last night who was taller, with dark hair cut just above his neck, and almost serious eyes. The other had wavy, dirty blonde hair and high cheekbones that made him look a lot younger.

"I am not," she muttered quietly, poking at her porridge with her spoon.

She had dealt with kids like them before and knew that quietly ignoring them was the only way to make them leave her alone.

"I don't really see what there is to be upset about anyway," Terry went on. "If you made it into Ravenclaw, it must mean that you have _some_ brains, I guess…" He winked mischievously at his friends, who laughed loudly while Noah felt her face flush with anger as she clenched her spoon with all her might.

She was about to tell them to shut up when a squeaky voice called,

"Course schedules! First years!"

It was Professor Flitwick, their head of house and Charms teacher. He was a tiny man, just below Noah's chest, with a shock of white hair and some goblin-like features. All three boys immediately stopped laughing when he scurried over, passed schedules to the four of them, and took off again.

"Guft ners, guys, weef goff Transfigation fuhst…wif Huffluffpuffs," announced the blonde boy, shoveling the last of his eggs into his mouth.

"That's great, Anthony, but we've still got D.A.D.A. with the stupid Gryffindors on Thursday," the taller boy moaned, throwing a snide look at Noah.

But she wasn't listening since she had spotted this on her schedule and felt her spirits rising considerably as they all left the Great Hall and walked along the stony corridors. It looked like she would get to see her friend a little more often than she thought.

Then she froze when a sudden thought struck her. She dashed back to the Great Hall where she hurriedly grabbed a roll and some fruit and made her way back to Ravenclaw tower.

Hogwarts was nothing more than a giant labyrinth with one hundred and forty two moving staircases, twisting corridors, doors that either weren't normal or not even actual doors, and moving objects that were sometimes helpful. Yet despite all this, Noah was able to easily navigate herself back to her house's entrance where she slipped inside before the door could close and force her to solve some stupid riddle to be able to go inside.

Thankfully, the elegant, starry common room was empty except for the roaring fire and Noah threw the food into the flames.

"For my mother, Hecate."

**O0O0O0O**

Minutes later, Noah found a seat near the back of the Transfiguration classroom. She had started to pull out her copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ when she was joined by a pretty Indian girl with silky, black hair pulled back into a plaited ponytail. Noah instantly recognized one of her roommates, but couldn't remember the girl's name at all.

"I'm Padma Patil," the girl said politely. "You're Noah Run, right? I hope we didn't keep you up all night with our talking."

Well, actually, they had, but Noah mumbled out an awkward "no" before opening her book to a random chapter. As she pretended to be reading, she wondered if she should say something next just to be polite, but Padma beat her to it.

"Are you looking forward to this class? My mum and dad told me that McGonagall was a tough teacher. Hopefully, she won't give us too much work on the first day," she said.

"Um, y-yeah…that would kind of suck," Noah offered lamely, not looking away from her book and almost sorry she couldn't think of anything better to say.

She simply wasn't used to other kids being friendly to her out of the blue. They were usually teasing her or ignoring her altogether.

"You're Hermione Granger's American friend, right?" Padma asked next. "Oh, I see that got your attention." She grinned at Noah, who blushed hotly but nodded anyway.

"Well, yeah, I mean…she's one of m-my best f-friends," she replied faintly. "How do you know her?" Her eyes flicked up to meet Padma's for a quick second, and then landed on her own hands again.

"My sister, Parvati, is in Gryffindor too and they're roommates. I heard that Granger's already gone through all the textbooks."

Noah couldn't help but to giggle at that. Hermione was one of the smartest people she knew and if anyone could read through an entire list of schoolbooks _before_ school had even started, it was her.

"Unbelievable! Runny's actually got a personality!"

Noah only settled to glare at Terry and his friends who, much to her dismay, were settling themselves in the seats behind her and Padma. Why were they bothering her? What had she ever done to them?

"Bugger off, Boot," Padma said coolly, placing a protective hand on Noah's shoulder.

Noah blushed and averted her eyes down again, both surprised and touched that the girl was standing up to these jerks for her sake.

"I wasn't even talking to _you_, Patil," Terry retorted jeeringly before turning back to Noah. "Gonna go cry some more because you weren't in Gryffindor, Runny? You don't belong in Ravenclaw with that kind of attitude anyway, and I'll bet you aren't all that smart—"

"I am so!" Noah almost yelled, defensively.

Despite feeling so miserable about the sorting, she figured there wasn't any other choice but to do the best she could in Ravenclaw. Besides, she had just as much right to be in this house as stupid Terry Boot.

She suddenly became aware of everyone's eyes on her as most of the class had turned to stare at them, anxious to see if there was going to be a fight on the first day. Her knees began to shake and she felt like a puny ant under a magnifying glass. She spared a glance a Padma through the corner of her eye and saw the girl trying to hide a small, but encouraging smile.

Feeling a little braver, she continued. "A-Anyway…I'd be willing to bet that a house-elf has m-more brains than the three of you put t-t-together."

She didn't know what made her say it—especially since she had never seen a house-elf before—but she almost starting laughing along with the rest of the class at the furious, pink expressions on all three boys' faces.

"If you're all quite finished," snapped a new, much older voice.

Everyone immediately fell silent under McGonagall's piercing gaze from the front of the classroom, which was mainly focused on the five disruptive students she had just walked in on. They all squirmed uncomfortably and wordlessly took their seats. Noah stared down at her desk, mortified. Class hadn't even started yet and already she'd gotten in trouble.

It seemed like her year really was off to a lousy start…

**O0O0O0O**

Halfway into the class, Noah struggled to keep up with the long lecture and complicated notes while keeping her temper in check, especially when another one of Terry's crumpled papers hit her in the back of the head. Even if she wasn't fuming over this particular distraction, she still would have felt like she was writing complete gibberish between the all the words she knew she'd misspelled and the fancy text in her book floating off the pages. If it were written in Ancient Greek, she wouldn't be having this problem. And did they really need to know about the ancient methods of transfiguration just to turn a match into a needle?

She did her best not to meet McGonagall's eyes again, still feeling ashamed to have gotten off on the wrong foot with the teacher. She'd been determined to make up for it by staying quiet and taking diligent notes, but after a while she finally put her quill down in frustration. Not to mention that her hand was starting to cramp.

She wondered, not for the first time, why they couldn't just use regular pencils and pens.

_This place is more medieval than camp,_ she thought.

Another wad of parchment bounced off her ear.

"_Knock it off!_" she snapped angrily, her temper finally getting the better of her as she whipped around in her seat.

"_Noah!_"Padma hissed urgently.

Noah looked away from Terry's triumphant sneer and saw the whole class watching her expectantly.

"Er, wh-what…?"

McGonagall cleared her throat. "I was wondering, Miss Run, if perhaps you could tell me one of the ancient methods the early alchemists used for transfiguration. Since you're not on page 170 with the rest of us, I assume that you already know the answer."

Noah frantically fumbled through her textbook, her silent panic only making the words harder to read. Other students raised their hands, but the professor ignored them, waiting.

"I, er…I-I-I can't find…" Noah trailed off, her eyes desperately scanning the pages for the answer that would save her from this nightmare.

At this, McGonagall flicked her wand and Noah's book opened to the assigned page with a loud snap.

"_That_ is the correct page, Miss Run," she said frostily. "Five points from Ravenclaw for wasting our time. And a detention for you and Boot for, once again, disrupting my class."

Noah wanted to yell about the unfairness of it all and how it was Terry's fault in the first place, but she only bit her lip and bowed her head in embarrassment. There was a brief pause as McGonagall watched her curiously for a moment. She had half-expected the girl to argue more—something in her eyes gave her a daring, almost defiant look. Or maybe it was that mischievous smirk she'd had when watching Percy Weasley last night. But McGonagall received no contest and continued to teach.

**O0O0O0O**

After Transfiguration, during which McGonagall had docked another five points after looking over Noah's shoulder to see that she wasn't taking proper notes, Noah felt miserable for the rest of the day.

Things had started to look up when she went to History of Magic next. It was the only class she couldn't mess up in because the teacher was a dull ghost with a wheezy voice, who only read from the textbook. Of course, it turned out to be torture because her ADHD acted up worse from the boredom. She tapped her quill on her desk; bounced her leg up and down; and even made a doodle of 'Professor McGrumpy-Face', who looked a lot like McGonagall drawn in the style of one of those _South Park_ characters Connor was always talking about. Hardly fifteen minutes had gone by.

"This must be what Tartarus is like," she grumbled miserably.

The sky rumbled menacingly outside the window and she quickly squeaked, "Sorry!" which earned her bizarre looks from the few students who were still awake.

She ducked her head and focused on putting the finishing touches on her doodle, but when she moved to dip her quill in the ink, the bottle skirted away from her. She tried again, but the same thing happened.

Off to her left, she could hear snickering, making her look up to see the three boys who seemed determined to make her first day a living nightmare.

"Would you l-leave m-me alone?" she whispered, even though there was no point since the teacher was hardly paying attention to anything in front of him. More than half the class was asleep under his very nose.

"Wh-Why d-d-don't you m-make us, R-R-Runny?" Anthony stuttered, imitating her.

They all laughed and Noah gnashed her teeth together to stop the threatening tears in her eyes. She angrily turned in her seat only to have her elbow knock over the ink bottle to crash to the floor. The boys laughed harder and were joined by a couple of the other Ravenclaws who'd been watching the second confrontation between their housemates.

"Thanks for the notes, Runny."

Noah didn't act fast enough when Terry snatched her parchment away and held it out of her reach.

"Hey! Give that back!" she cried, shooting to her feet.

Professor Binns still had yet to notice the commotion going on in front of him. Noah made a desperate grab for the parchment only for Anthony to shove her back.

"She can't even spell 'revolution'!" Terry laughed. "Professor McGrumpy-Face?"

They all laughed eve harder as he waved her doodle around for all to see. Thankfully, it was Padma who put a stop to it all when she yanked it out of his hand.

"That's enough!" she barked shrilly. "Leave Noah alone, you stupid gits."

She narrowed her eyes dangerously at the three boys who only made faces at her. The bell finally chimed just as Noah took her parchment back.

"Th-Th-Thanks, Padma, I—"

"And _you_, Noah, should take your studies more seriously than this," Padma scolded her. "You are a Ravenclaw now, you know."

Noah grumbled, drawing patterns on the floor with her foot. "It's n-not like I asked the stupid hat to p-put me here."

Padma sighed, "Look, I'm sorry you're not in Gryffindor with Hermione, but still…Ravenclaw has a reputation to keep up. Anyone in our House should focus on getting high marks."

"But I"—Noah stopped herself.

_Wait! What the heck am I thinking?_

She'd almost argued that she had ADHD and dyslexia, but there were still a few kids hanging behind and that was the last thing she wanted to get around.

"All right. Fine," she said at last.

Padma gently patted her shoulder. "Good for you, Noah. Now how about lunch—"

But Noah didn't stick around to hear the rest of her invitation and skipped lunch anyway. She only grabbed a roast beef sandwich to toss into the fireplace back in the common room. She then trudged up to her room where she pulled her trunk out from under her bed and opened it. Digging to get to the bottom, she pulled out her Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and pressed it against her face, inhaling deeply. The strawberry smell was slowly fading, but it was still there and she felt like smiling.

Six-hour difference…in another few hours, the year-round campers would be waking up and doing cabin inspections. If she were there, she'd be going to study Greek Mythology with one of the satyrs.

She remained like that for as long as she could, hugging her shirt close and trying to remember random facts from all the mythology stories, until she finally made up her mind. She grabbed a blank sheet of parchment and her quill.

_Dear Connor,_

_I hope you get this letter ok. I have no idea how long it'll take for the owl to get to you. You'd think wizards would have magical Internet or something._

_Anyway, I'm finally at Hogwarts! It's different from Camp, that's for sure. There are moving staircases, ghosts, and a talking hat. It even sings! It put me in Ravenclaw, which is supposed to be a House for geniuses or something. It's ok here, I guess, but I hope I don't have to study all the time._

_I actually wish I was in Gryffindor. Which reminds me! I met this amazing girl, Hermione Granger. She got into Gryffindor and she's really smart and pre—_she scratched that part out.

_The Transfiguration teacher here, McGonagall, is pure evil. She makes Hades look cuddly!_

_I hope you're having a good school year, at least. Let's try to IM soon—I have a few drachmas on me, so just let me know whenever you're free. It's kind of boring without you. Tell Travis I said hi._

_Noah_

She read the letter over again and wasn't sure whether to feel better or worse that she had another life across the sea waiting for her. Then she grabbed another sheet of parchment and scribbled a quick note to her dad, telling him what House she was in and that she was doing ok. There were a hundred other things she wanted to say, but she didn't want to start whining like a baby after only one day.

She carefully folded the two letters, opting to send them later, just as the distant bell rang to signal that it was time for afternoon classes.


	8. Heart's Desire

**This chapter is dedicated to GarlicBred!**

**I was originally planning to break it into two parts, but Garlic's awesome review inspired me to just make it one whole thing.**

**I'd also like to know if I wrote the "fluffy" scene between Noah and Hermione decently enough. I'm trying not to rush their relationship too fast since they're only eleven. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter, because I know Garlic will!**

_Disclaimer: I wish I owned these two series, but I only own a bunch of mismatched socks. *sigh*_

* * *

><p><strong>Heart's Desire<strong>

With each passing day, Noah became more and more certain that that stupid Sorting Hat had put her in the wrong House. And maybe even on purpose too for trying to bribe it that night.

She had yet to answer a single question right in class no matter how many times Padma encouraged her to raise her hand. And, if anything, her magic seemed to be acting up worse than before. Take Charms class for example. Even though Professor Flitwick was really nice and helpful, she still felt nervous about casting her first spell, but she jabbed at the feather she was supposed to be levitating…and set it on fire. Her notes were completely incinerated and Kevin Entwhistle was frantically putting out the flame eating away at the hem of his robes by the time Flitwick vanished the fire. At least he hadn't taken away any points, but everybody did make sure to steer clear of her desk after that.

"Ten points, Run, and now _this_," a fellow Ravenclaw moaned after her. "Who doesn't know how to cast an easy Levitation charm?"

Noah ignored him as she stuffed her things into her messenger bag and got out of the classroom as fast as she could, her head hanging low.

So far, Astronomy on Thursday night was the only class she was best at, knowing the names of most of the stars and having no trouble completing her star charts. They were a lot easier to do than the ones Chiron had them work on in the evenings. The added bonus that she had known the story behind the Orion constellation only made Professor Sinistra warm up to her quickly.

"That is correct, Ms. Run." she said with a soft smile "Seven points for Ravenclaw."

Noah's eyes nearly popped out of her head. These were the first points she'd earned all week!

Even the other Ravenclaws seemed stunned by this, and Padma gave her a smile and thumbs-up.

"Big deal. It's just Astronomy class anyway." It was Terry Boot who said that.

Several Ravenclaws nodded and Noah could only scowl at the ground with burning cheeks.

**O0O0O0O**

The first week of school came to a quick end on Friday. Noah hurried out of the cold dungeons—where she had her first-ever Potions lesson—and joined the flood of students eager to get through the front doors to enjoy the warm, breezy afternoon. Walking down the lawn and towards the lake, she soon came to a tall, beech tree near the edge of the water where the shade underneath was already occupied by someone else.

"Hey, Hermione," she said as she sat next to the girl. She smiled when Hermione seemed to suddenly come out of the trance placed on her by the book in her lap.

"There you are, No!" She couldn't help but snuggle as close as possible when the Gryffindor pulled her into a quick hug. Sure, they had sat together in Defense Against the Dark Arts class yesterday, but it still felt like they hadn't seen each other in years.

"I miss having you around, No," Hermione said cheerfully. "It's been kind of lonely…"

"Really?" Noah didn't want to sound happy about this, but a part of her was glad that she wasn't the only one missing her friend.

That wasn't to say that Padma had stopped being nice. In fact, she sometimes even invited Noah to study together in the evenings with her group of friends, who didn't seem all that thrilled at first, but kept their comments to themselves. Noah wasn't used to talking to so many people at once and usually fell quiet around them anyway, but she couldn't deny that it was a nice change from all the disappointed looks she'd been getting from the rest of her housemates. Still, it wasn't the same without Hermione, who was now frowning at her.

"Of course! How could you think anything else?" Glad to hear those words, Noah nodded eagerly.

Nothing could break them up, she assured herself. Be it different Houses or class schedules, or new friends, they'd stick together no matter what.

"So, how was your first week?" she asked, scooting closer.

Hermione brightened immediately. "It's been great! All of my classes are going really well. Even History of Magic isn't so bad though Professor Binns is…well—"

"Boring," Noah finished for her, knowing that Hermione would never say anything bad about a teacher. "What's wrong? Do you find his lessons a bit…oh, I dunno, lifeless?"

Both girls laughed at this until their sides hurt, and when they did catch their breaths Hermione continued.

"I really like Charms and Transfiguration"—Noah did her best not to pull a face at this—"and my roommates are nice enough, I suppose. What about you? Parvati told me that you and her sister are getting along really well now." She added that last part quietly and either it was Noah's imagination or her smile didn't quite reach her eyes anymore.

"Oh, you mean Padma? She's been really nice so far, and…um, my classes are ok too, I guess. I mean, I'm definitely not as smart as you…" Blushing, Noah looked away and at the glimmering lake.

She couldn't believe she'd actually said that! Sure, she always knew it, but best friends didn't get all mushy or whatever with each other. It was way too embarrassing…

"Well, I think you're just as smart too, No," Hermione replied in a small voice.

Noah turned back to her and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw that Hermione was blushing too.

_How does she always manage to look so cute?_ she wondered, staring dumbly. _Wait! Did I really just think that? About Hermione?_

"Oh, Noooaaah! You're spacing out on me." Hermione waved a hand in front of her nose, bringing her back to reality with her face feeling even hotter than before.

"S-sorry! I didn't…I was just…" Great, now she was babbling like an idiot in front her friend again. But Hermione only grinned and playfully ruffled her hair.

"Don't worry about it, No. What were you thinking about? Or rather _who_ were you thinking about?" A sly look crossed her face that made it seem like she already knew the answer.

"N-No one! I wasn't…I mean, come on, we're only eleven, Hermione…" Noah mumbled to her lap.

"Yeah, well, my mum always says that you can never start too early when it comes to love. Dad disagrees with her, though."

Noah smiled at the thought of how hilarious it'd be if Hermione's mom turned out to be a daughter of Aphrodite.

_Even though it would explain why Hermione is so pretty…_She quickly shook her head to somehow get rid of these annoying thoughts and nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Hermione give a snort of laughter.

"Hmm, see? You're thinking about something right now, No. I can already tell that much about you," Hermione pressed teasingly.

Noah fidgeted with the hem of her robes, finding it hard to keep eye contact. "N-nothing! Just about…er, my homework later on," she lied finally.

Hermione was eager to jump on the subject, much to Noah's relief.

"I'm going to start on mine right away. I think I'll go to the library in a little while too. Come with me!"

Noah automatically accepted the offer. Personally, she thought it was crazy for the teachers to have assigned so much homework after the first week, but McGonagall in particular had already piled tons on the class and she wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible to prove to the strict teacher that she wasn't a lazy student. Not only that, but it'd be just her and Hermione for the rest of the day…

But then cruel reality reminded her of something very important.

"No, wait…um…I can't, actually…sorry…"

"Why not?" Hermione asked, looking slightly hurt.

Noah fidgeted, suddenly feeling guilty. "Well…I…I've got detention."

"_WHAT?_"

Noah only caught a glimpse of Hermione's incredulous expression before she stared down at her own hands. "I-It wasn't my fault! It was stupid Terry Boot…"

But Hermione still couldn't believe her ears. Here was Noah, the nicest and quietest person she'd ever met, admitting that she had gotten into trouble. That was almost like Hermione suddenly declaring that she hated books. And during the first week of school!

"Terry Boot?" Hermione frowned. "You mean that awful boy from the train and in Defense class who was with that tall kid?"

"Michael Corner." Just thinking about those jerks made Noah scrunch her face with distaste. "Yeah, them."

"But they're horrible, Noah! You saw what they did to Neville yesterday, didn't you?"

Noah nodded numbly. She had felt sorry for the clumsy Gryffindor boy, knowing all too well how it felt to be singled out and picked on for no good reason. Those guys were worse than her own siblings.

"He's still in the Hospital Wing! Madame Pomfrey hasn't been able to get his toad out of his throat yet! What were you doing with Boot anyway?"

"I wasn't doing anything _with _him," Noah answered quickly. "He started it and I told him to stop…"

"Stop what?" But Noah shook her head.

"Nevermind. McGonagall just wanted to get me in trouble too. _She's_ the awful one."

She looked at Hermione with pleading eyes, hoping that her friend would understand and not be too disappointed in her. Hermione then looked slightly uncomfortable as she tried to be sympathetic.

"McGonagall's not that bad, No. Yes, she's a bit strict, but…just try not to cross her anymore, ok?"

Noah sighed, biting her tongue to keep herself from saying what she really thought about the Transfiguration professor, who was also the head of house for Gryffindor. Still, why couldn't Hermione take her side?

"Yeah, all right. I mean…well, it's only for tonight."

Hermione certainly hoped so as she looped her arm around Noah and nuzzled her cheek against her shoulder.

"It's ok, No," she began. "Besides, we can study together now, can't we?"

Noah giggled as strands of Hermione's hair tickled her neck, all her worries about her detention vanishing from her mind the second she pulled out her books.

**O0O0O0O**

The rest of the day seemed to pass in a blur and when it was late in the evening—way past curfew—Noah was still scrubbing away at her pile of rusty shackles and chains, trying to tune out Terry's grumblings. They were serving their detention with Argus Filch, the hunchbacked caretaker of Hogwarts who also hated all the students with a passion.

"Could you hand me the soap?" she said absently, half-awake and half-hypnotized by the miserable task.

Not one for politeness, Terry threw it at her. She glared at him, but her short pause in her work earned her a sharp rap between the shoulders from Filch's cane.

"Get back to work, you disgusting little brat!" he spat, glaring at her with his pale eyes.

She quickly obeyed even though her back was throbbing now; she could also hear Terry choking with laughter just behind her.

As Filch shuffled past her, she cursed McGonagall in her head for the hundredth time that night. To say that this sucked would be an understatement. It was Terry who'd been picking on her and thanks to him she'd landed herself in detention on her very first day! And now her best friend probably thought that she was some kind of troublemaker.

_Why can't today just be over already?_

"If you do a good enough job," Filch wheezed, "I just might let you test those fine bracelets out for me by hanging you twits up by your thumbs."

A crooked smiled spread his grizzled face, making both Noah and Terry gulp and even exchange nervous glances with each other. It was no secret that Filch would've greatly enjoyed torturing a student or two without Headmaster Dumbledore's knowledge. And the way he and his creepy, dust-colored cat, Mrs. Norris, were leering at them, it looked like they might be his first victims tonight.

"AHA!" Filch yelled just as suddenly as a thunderous _BANG!_ sounded over their heads. The whole room trembled and the oil lamp flickered.

"Peeves! You scoundrel, I've got you now!"

And then he and Mrs. Norris took off without even sparing the two first-years a second glance.

"Where are you going?" Noah hissed as soon as she spotted Terry heading for the door seconds later.

"Mind your own business, Runny," he retorted, clearly annoyed that he hadn't managed to sneak out and leave her behind.

"Hey! Wait!"

But he had already left, giving her only a split second to decide what she should do next.

She chucked her rag aside and ran after him not wanting to be left alone with the horrible caretaker whenever he did get back. The stony corridors dimly glowed under the silver moonlight and orange flames of the torches. It felt weird to be there without the hustle and bustle of students pushing each other around.

She spotted Terry just as he was about to disappear around a nearby corner. "Come back, will you? Filch'll kill us if—"

"Ooooh, I'm so scared of stupid Filch!" Terry said with mock horror. "Quit following me, Runny. I'm leaving and you can't stop me."

He roughly shoved past her and made his way up the moving staircases.

Rubbing her shoulder, Noah followed him and just barely managed to keep up even when he tried to hurry ahead of her or change stairs at the last minute just so she would miss her jump.

"Hey, check this out," he said when they both landed on the third floor where a long corridor stretched out before them with the heavy darkness hardly affected by the few torches flickering there. She could just barely make out the outlines of the armored suits lined up at attention along the wall.

It was the Charms Corridor, Noah realized even though she wasn't totally sure how she knew that.

"Wh-What d'you think is there?" she asked nervously, taking a small step back.

"Why? Scared?" Terry cooed with a smirk.

She firmly shook her head, not trusting herself to speak; the last thing she wanted was to show him any weakness. He only rolled his eyes and pulled out his wand.

"_Lumos._" A tiny light appeared at the tip just enough that he wasn't completely swallowed by the darkness as he strode into the corridor, seeming to have forgotten about her with this new adventure awaiting him.

Noah bit her lip as her insides clenched with uncertainty.

_Come to me…_

She blinked and looked around. "Boot?"

Maybe he was trying to scare her. But there was no reply.

_Come…want to kill…_

There it was again and she felt a freezing fear wash over her at the last word. And the voice was to high-pitched and sinister to be Fang's.

_But I could just be hearing things,_ she countered silently. She started to turn around to head back to Ravenclaw Tower, but found herself unable to move. Now her hands were shaking at her sides as she listened hard to see if the voice would say something else despite all the alarms in her head telling her to go back to her safe, warm room.

"Boot, c-cut it out!" she snapped, her voice echoing into the darkness. Still no reply.

What if there was some kind of monster lurking in those shadows just waiting for the chance to attack an unsuspecting victim? As much as she'd much rather see it get Terry first…

She started to pull out her wand to try the same spell he had done, but stopped herself.

_Better not risk it… _She'd blown up enough stuff for one week.

So she fished around in her pockets again until she pulled out her magic flashlight, and then slowly put one foot in front of the other, hating herself all the way. The still darkness was almost overwhelming and her only source of light did nothing to ease the sickening dread sinking into her stomach.

_Want to kill… _

She pressed herself against the wall where the voice seemed to be coming from, hurrying along now to follow it even as the strange whispers faded away.

_But who the heck could hide themselves in the walls like this?_ She wondered. She was almost running now, past the line of armored suits and surer that she was getting closer to the source…

"Oof!"

"Oi!"

Noah nearly toppled onto her back as she stumbled backwards from whatever the heavy thing she had just slammed into was.

She raised her light to where Terry was righting himself up and glaring at her for her clumsiness, which she returned halfheartedly for only a second before looking at the ground. For the first time, she was actually relieved to see him.

"Watch where you're going, stupid," he grumbled, but she didn't miss the slight shakiness in his voice and wondered if she had scared him too.

"Well, if you hadn't been making all those stupid hissing sounds," she retorted, glancing over at the wall.

Of course, she wasn't sure if it had really been him, but there was only one way to find out.

"What are you talking about? I didn't say anything." She looked up at him and saw that he was also looking at the wall with a genuinely confused expression on his face, which only added to her own.

"So did you hear it too?" she asked eagerly, glad that she wasn't alone in her suspicions, which would've made her sound pretty crazy. And the whispering had stopped altogether now anyway. Maybe she'd just imagined it after all…

But he nodded and turned to look down the corridor. "I think it was going that way," he murmured, and started on his way again.

"Hey! Wait! M-Maybe we shouldn't," Noah argued feebly even though she went to catch up with him. "We've got detention, remember?"

Of course, she almost regretted her words at the disbelieving look he gave her. Between the foreboding darkness and Filch, she'd rather take her chances with Filch, but if she didn't go, she'd have proven her obnoxious detention-mate right. As scared as she _was_, she couldn't bear to give him that satisfaction now.

"Quit being such a baby, Runny," he hissed at her.

"I-I'm not! I didn't mean that—OW!" Something heavy struck her head that immediately made tears spring up in the corners of her eyes.

"Shut up, you—OW!"

A voice cackled above them. "Oooh, what have we here—students about and breaking the rules? Filchy won't be pleased to see you!"

It was Peeves the Poltergeist, who Noah had yet to forgive for attacking her and Padma with water balloons on Tuesday, which had left them shivering all the way to the greenhouses for Herbology. Professor Sprout had magically dried their clothes for them, but Noah had still been sniffling for the rest of the day.

"What was that for?" Noah groaned, rubbing her head painfully. There was probably going to be a lump there in the morning. The floating little man seemed to have plenty more of whatever he was throwing at them tucked under his arm.

His only reply was a loud, wet raspberry that echoed off the walls as he dumped it all over their heads with a loud clatter.

"Get out of it, Peeves," Terry snapped, carefully feeling around the floor with his free hand for a source of ammo to throw at him.

He then hurled the black object at Peeves…and missed.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" the poltergeist screamed, "IN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR! COME QUICK, FILCHY!"

Cursing, both Ravenclaws ran for their lives, heading deeper and deeper down the corridor until they came to the end where a locked door awaited them.

"Oh no!" Noah moaned, desperately rattling the doorknob. "What do we do now?"

Her heart pounded in her ears, but she was sure she could hear Filch's footsteps running towards them.

Terry then elbowed her out of the way and tapped his wand to the lock. _"Alohomora!"_

Nothing happened—they were trapped.

"Bloody hell! You've got to—"

"Which way did they go, Peeves? Who was it?" echoed Filch's voice. They froze, listening.

"Say 'please,'" Peeves replied sweetly.

But Noah didn't hear if Filch had said so or not because she had whirled around to try the doorknob one last time. It _had_ to open somehow! She would've known if it was another trick door.

"Come on," she growled. "_Open!"_ She banged her fist on the thick wood and only had a second to wince at the jolt of pain that shot through her arm before the door swung open.

They nearly got stuck in the frame as they tried to dash through it at the same time. But once they got through, they shut it and slid to the floor with their backs pressed to it.

"M-Merlin's…balls," Terry breathed, "How…How'd you do that, Run?" He was so relieved and tired that he didn't even care that he hadn't used his favorite nickname for her.

Still gasping, Noah could only shake her head. She couldn't remember having ever run that hard in her entire life, not even on the climbing wall. She was more than ready for her comfy bed now.

"What are you two brats doing in here? Which one of you cancelled my rune?"

Startled, the two first-years jumped to their feet, their eyes darting around frantically for the source of the outraged voice. Was it McGonagall? Had she been waiting for them all along so she could transfigure them into something horrible for skipping out on their punishment? This was the first time they actually got a good look at their hiding place. It was an abandoned classroom with dusty desks piled off to one side. Not even the thin streaks of moonlight seeping through the cracked window made the room look any more inviting. Across the room and propped against the wall was a tall mirror with strange engravings along its ornate frame.

Then, from the darkest corner, materialized the ugliest woman either of them had ever seen. She was squat, maybe two heads taller than Professor Flitwick, and ghostly pale with a weathered face tighter than a crumpled paper bag. Her bulging, glassy eyes pinpointed them like a pair of tiny insects much like the handful of dead ones already sticking out of her thinning, grayish-black hair shaped like a beehive.

Terry didn't even try to hide his disgust while Noah stared guiltily at the ground underneath the penetrating glare. If this lady was a teacher, they were definitely in tons of trouble.

"Well? Which one of you devils was it?" she spat through dry, cracked lips.

Not even registering her question, Terry defiantly stepped forward.

"Who the hell are _you_, lady?" he demanded.

Noah snapped her head up with her mouth hanging wide open. How stupid could he get? They were going to be expelled for sure now, especially since the woman's face contorted into an even scarier scowl.

"How dare you speak to me like—you little worm!"

With a deft flick of her wrist, she soon had the poor boy bouncing all around the room as he gave a girly shriek. If Noah weren't so freaked out by this woman, she would've found this hilarious, but right now they had to get out of here whether Filch was still outside waiting for them or not.

"Wait!" she cried at last. "I was the one who opened the door!"

This made the woman's eyes bulge and she released her current victim, who scurried back to the other end of the room.

"You?" she hissed. "I see."

Noah squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the witch to send her flying around the room too, but nothing happened. She peeked an eye open saw that the anger had evaporated and was replaced with a disturbingly calm expression.

"Yes…I see," the woman repeated. "Well, I'm impressed"—she even gave a little clap with her shriveled hands—"that rune was one I created myself as a means to keep people from invading my privacy. Very good, girly."

The compliment dripped from her lips like sweet poison—enough to make Noah's insides curl.

"Come here!" the woman barked next.

"Wh-What?" Noah croaked, shrinking further into her corner. "Why?"

The woman's eyes flashed dangerously with impatience and she twitched her index finger, which jerked Noah and Terry forward until they stood right in front of the mirror. Here, they got a better look at the engravings:

_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_ .

They may have been Ravenclaws, but neither of them could figure out what that gibberish meant.

"Tell me what you see, girl," the woman commanded softly.

But Noah only saw hers and Terry's terrified reflections staring back at her. Until Terry disappeared and was replaced with her dad slowly appearing instead…then Hermione…and even Connor.

They all had proud looks on their faces as they congratulated her for getting over her fears, for not being shy anymore, and for being a better person. Then her dad extended his hand to her, welcoming her back home to live with him. Noah felt her heart nearly burst with joy when Hermione wrapped her arms around the Noah in the mirror and whispered in her ear that she was the most amazing person ever. Not far behind them, a horrified McGonagall appeared until she was transfigured into a giant, yellow slug. Mirror-Noah gave her a playful wink.

No matter how hard she stared at the image in front of her, trying to etch every little detail into her mind, she still hadn't seen enough of it. Was she seeing the future? Would her dad really ask her to come back if she had stopped being a scared little girl? And maybe Hermione really would tell her that she was amazing…

"Quit hogging the mirror, Runny," Terry snapped.

Feeling more like his arrogant self again, he shoved her away and sent her stumbling back. She was about to argue, but stopped when she looked the engraved gibberish on the mirror's frame again. She stared at the words, her mind slowly solving the puzzle.

"I show not your face, but…your…heart's desire," she read slowly.

Terry managed to tear his eyes from the mirror long enough to look back at her. "How'd you figure that one?" he asked skeptically, a little bit jealous that she had solved the puzzle instead of him.

Noah shrugged meekly. "It reads backwards. So the mirror shows us what we desire most? Not the…future…" She couldn't keep the disappointment out of her voice, but then realized what she was thinking and scolded herself.

_Who cares if Dad doesn't want me back? Camp is my home now!_ But not even in her thoughts was she totally convinced of that.

"That is correct, girl," the woman answered, making them both jump. They'd forgotten she was still there. "But you know what I see in its depths? Nothing. I am incapable of having desires."

But Noah didn't really care about what she was saying as she stared at the mirror almost longingly, wanting to see her heart's desire again even though it felt completely pointless now. She glanced over at Terry who also wore the same disappointed look.

"Enough!" the woman snapped. "You two have invaded on my privacy for too long. Be gone!"

She waved her arm which lifted them off their feet and sent Terry flying out of the room, but Noah stayed hovered in the air with her heart clenched in fear.

"And you," the woman began slowly, "if you ever break one of my runes again, you'll be sorry."

"B-But I didn't m-mean"—the air closed in her throat and her panic escalated.

Her eyes were watering by the time the woman spoke again: "I've got my eye on you, girl."

Just when Noah was about to pass out from the lack of oxygen, weakly grabbing at her throat, her chest opened for the air to rush back in. Then she was flung out of the room where she crashed onto her back.

The door slammed shut.

Coughing, she shakily got to her feet and picked up her flashlight.

"That crazy old hag!" came Terry's voice as he angrily dusted himself off. "She nearly killed us."

"No thanks to you," Noah muttered.

He only rolled his eyes, not feeling guilty in the slightest.

"Whatever. Anyway, that mirror…oh, shite…"

They both froze as a pair of glowing yellow eyes slowly crept towards them. It was Mrs. Norris, which could only mean one thing: that Filch wasn't far behind.

When the cat was close enough, Terry kicked at it and the two students tore off in the opposite direction. They didn't stop until they'd reached the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower—a door made of nothing but plain wood and adorned with a bronze eagle-shaped knocker. At once, the beak of the eagle opened and a musical voice said,

"Little Nancy Eticoat stands in a white petticoat. The longer she stands, the shorter she grows."

"Stupid! Why—Why'd you do that?" Noah panted, her hands resting on her knees.

"What else was I supposed to do? Let it go tell Filch?" Terry shot back.

"I'm sorry, but that's not very good reasoning. Try again," said the knocker.

Neither of them said anything for a while as Noah tucked her flashlight away in her back pocket.

"So what'd you see in that mirror?"

Noah didn't know if she was more surprised by the suddenness of the question or the genuine look of interest on Terry's face as his curious deep blue eyes bore into her.

"I…er…saw McGonagall turned into a slug…" It wasn't a complete lie, but she die if Terry Boot of all people knew what she'd really seen.

He burst out laughing at this and she couldn't help but join him, forgetting that they were enemies for the briefest of moments.

"What did you see?" she found herself asking once they calmed down.

A serious expression flickered across his face that killed the lighthearted mood in a split second and she was almost sorry she asked. Just as quickly, the look was replaced with his usual taunting sneer,

"None of your business, Runny."

"What? But you—"

"There you guys are!"

Startled, the two of them turned to see Michael and Anthony standing in the doorway.

"You've been gone for ages!" exclaimed Michael, "What'd Filch make you do?"

"Pah! We ditched him as soon as we could," Terry said, strutting past them.

Noah followed and realized how tired she was upon seeing the near-empty common room save for Padma, who sprang out of her seat as soon as she saw Noah.

"Finally, Noah! God, you don't know how crazy those two were driving me." She threw a disgusted look the three oblivious boys' way with a shake of her head. "Did you really ditch detention?"

Noah did her best to look guilty under the Indian girl's reprimanding look, but was too tired to do anything except nod. It felt like someone had just flipped an off switch on her back. Padma seemed to realize this and urged her upstairs, forgetting about their rowdy housemates as soon as they closed their bedroom door. The other girls were already fast asleep, so they changed into their pajamas as quietly as they could and crawled into their beds in tired relief.

"Did you really spend all that time waiting up for me?" Noah yawned.

Padma nodded with sleepiness suddenly evident on her face.

"Sure I did," she answered. "But what took you guys so long? You really shouldn't make a habit of getting detention, Noah. Remember what I said about Ravenclaw's reputation?"

Noah only shrugged, hugging her pillow close to her as her eyes got heavier and heavier. The mental image of Hermione hugging her close in the mirror made her smile and almost made that bizarre incident seem worth it. Soon she was sucked into the land of dreams, leaving the day's events far behind her.


	9. Two Kinds of Magic

**A/N: Holy cow! It's been forever! I'm really sorry about that and I've all BUT forgotten about this story. I'm pretty rusty, so if there are any plotholes or confusion, don't hesitate to let me know what I can do to improve. I'll try to keep future chapters shorter than this, but I figured a lengthy update was due after so much time has passed. To sum this up, a huge thank you to everyone who has actually kept this story in their alerts and to all who stop by to read and review.**

_Usual disclaimer applies._

* * *

><p><strong>Two Kinds of Magic<strong>

It didn't take long for Noah to become convinced that McGonagall hated her.

If nothing else, the horrible professor seemed to enjoy calling on the shy first-year in class even when her hand wasn't raised, to answer a question she didn't know.

It didn't matter how invisible Noah tried to make herself day after day, those beady eyes would always single her out and watch her stammer senselessly that she didn't have an answer. It got so bad that Noah could feel her mouth go dry and her knees start to shake as soon as she stepped into the classroom. And by now she could easily figure out which side of the room the groans or snickers came from whenever her name was called to which McGonagall would snap,

"Quiet, all of you! I'm sure Miss Run will have an answer for us today."

Yet Noah knew no one expected her to have one.

"Jeez, what's wrong with you, Runny?" Terry would hiss from behind her. "Forget how to breathe?"

She wouldn't even bother to glare at him and could only stare into her lap as a heavy lump settled in her throat.

But if Noah had thought Transfiguration was her worst nightmare to happen yet, she was proven very wrong when an owl flew in threw the common room window that morning.

She was sitting with Padma working on their star charts. Defense had been cancelled: Professor Quirrel had nearly been attacked by a giant, black creature in his office…which he later discovered was his own shadow. Nonetheless, he was horribly shaken and refused to leave his quarters until further notice.

The owl started slapping her head with its wings.

"Oh, look, Noah, you've got a letter."

Noah quickly smoothed down her now-disheveled hair and reached for the letter tied to the owl's leg.

She tore into the envelope and had started to unfold the letter when another owl zoomed in, landing right in front of Terry Boot, who'd been playing rowdily by the fire with his two friends.

Once smoothed out, her letter read:

_Dear Noah,_

_I got your letter. I'm so happy for you to get into Ravenclaw! That was my House too, did you know? I hope you enjoy your first Halloween at school. The feast was always my favorite part._

_Anyway, I wanted to write to tell you some exciting news! You remember Elaine Boot, don't you? The lady from Diagon Alley? Well…I wanted you to be the first to know that she and I are dating! We've gotten on quite well for a while now, but didn't want to rush anything._

_And what's more is that she has a son at Hogwarts. His name is Terry Boot and he's in Ravenclaw too. Have you met him yet? If so, I hope the two of you become great friends because you may just be seeing each other a little more often from now on…_

_I won't make this letter much longer, but I hope all is well._

_Love, _

_Dad_

"NO!"

Padma squealed loudly and threw her quill in the air in surprise.

"Noah, what on earth—"

But Noah had spun around only to see Terry staring right back at her, clutching his own letter so tightly that his fingers had put holes through it. His friends were also giving him the same scared looks that Padma had on her face.

_This can't be happening!_ Noah's mind raced. _This CAN'T happen!_

"Noah? We'll finish the charts up later, yeah?" Padma ventured softly. She tapped the girl's shoulder. Noah nodded even though she hadn't heard a word.

"Let's go. We've got Potions in a few minutes…and you can tell me what's bothering you on the way, if you want. It can't be _that_ bad, can it?"

**O0O0O0O**

_God, what if they get MARRIED? _The thought made Noah cringe as she placed her cauldron on one of the worktables while the Potions master, Severus Snape contemptuously stared down the crowd of Slytherins and Ravenclaws with black eyes.

She didn't tell Padma what was really bothering her. Confessing meant that what was happening to her was real and right now, she was still wishing she would wake up in her bed with this having only been a dream. She didn't miss how silent Terry and his friends had become on the way here, which could only mean that he had told them about his letter.

Snape's greasy hair shined in the faint light as he wondered what he had done to deserve this job which forced him to deal with these snotty brats every damned day. Noah hadn't thought there was any other teacher worse than McGonagall, but Snape had proven her wrong on the first day. Even his very presence frightened most of the student population. Thankfully, he didn't seem to care about her much beyond giving her a 'Poor' on her first homework assignment. Most days he simply stalked past her as if she didn't exist, which she preferred rather than being in Neville's position where the hooked-nose man went out of his way to humiliate the boy.

"Today you'll be brewing a potion to cure boils," Snape hissed menacingly, "I should hope it'll be easy enough for you dunderheads, especially since you'll be working in pairs." He sneered this time, as if he was already expecting half the class to fail and thus waste his precious time.

"I'm with Anthony!" Michael announced at once, shocking Noah and Terry.

"What?" Terry growled at Michael, who had already crossed over to join Anthony on the other side of the table. Terry glanced at Noah in disgust before glaring back at Michael.

Michael snickered. "Well, Terry, since you and Runny are going to be brother and sister pretty soon…I figured I'd be nice and let you partner with her today."

Noah couldn't believe her ears at the joke nor did she like the idea that she would be the last resort partner for the three boys.

"Now, hold on," Padma interrupted angrily, coming to Noah's side. "Who said Noah even wanted to—"

"Patil! No talking! Three points from Ravenclaw!" Snape barked from the front of the classroom. "Now go work with Entwhistle."

Padma's face fell. For the first time ever, she'd lost points for her house. Boot and his stupid friends had been talking to, but she knew it was futile to argue with Snape. Not unless she wanted to get on his bad side. Apologetically, she waved Noah goodbye and moved towards Kevin Entwhistle. Terry slammed his fist down on the table so hard that the items rattled violently, then he stood up and glared at Noah.

This was going to be a _long_ class.

**O0O0O0O**

"Forty minutes left!" Snape's voice bounced off the damp, sullen walls of the dungeon.

Noah groaned silently as she clumsily read through her textbook's instructions, trying not to let her dyslexia get the best of her. She was sure hers and Terry's potion looked pretty dismal at this point that it'd be a miracle if Snape didn't go out of his way to point out everything wrong with it in front of the entire class by the end of the day's assignment. Yet right now she was more focused on ignoring Terry's snide insults and avoiding Anthony's foot, which always seemed to appear in front of her as she moved about her workstation. As if her dad dating Terry's mom had been all of _her_ fault, the boys wanted to make her suffer even more.

"Wh-Where are the…p-platypus qu-quills?" she chanced to ask Terry.

"That says porcupine quills, dummy, not platypus," Terry retorted sourly.

"Sh-Shut up...I knew th-th-that."

She reached for the glass container holding the porcupine quills and started to pull them out when a rough shove sent her stumbling.

"OW!" Her hand flew to her mouth and she tasted blood from where one of the quills had stabbed her before the container crashed to the floor. Ignoring this, she whirled around to see the all too familiar sight of the three boys laughing at her.

A swirl of anger churned in her chest and she banged her fist down on the table to keep herself from doing something stupid—like punching one of them in the face. At the same time, the fire underneath Michael and Anthony's potion flared up while the cauldron itself trembled violently. The cement-colored potion sloshed all over the worktable. Terry jumped back in time, nearly crushing her foot in the process, but Michael screamed.

"AAARRGH!"

Tears sprang into the corners of his eyes as purplish boils the size of golf balls popped up all over his hands, one of them already trickling greenish pus.

"Idiot children!" snarled Snape, appearing at the scene with his black robes billowing behind him. "Think it's funny to horseplay in my classroom, do you? Twenty points from Ravenclaw!"

With a flick of his wand, the mess disappeared, but his eyes were fixed on Noah—wild and calculating, as though he were seeing her for the first time.

"I-I-I didn't, s-sir—I j-just…Anthony's fault…" The garbled words fell from her mouth like lead and the Slytherins started laughing from their side of the room. Noah herself didn't even know what she was trying to say to somehow make up an explanation as to why her magic freaked out _again_.

Michael had already dashed out of the classroom and towards the Hospital Wing, leaving the remaining three culprits to face the potions master's wrath. No one was sure how much time had passed before Snape finally tore his eyes away from the trembling Noah.

"Another ten points from Ravenclaw for your senseless babbling, Run. Now _get out!_ All of you! NOW!" He spat furiously.

Noah, Terry, and Anthony didn't need to be told twice and ran out of the dungeons as fast as their legs could carry them.

Finally a safe distance away, Noah had barely caught her breath when the two boys grabbed her by the front of her robes and started dragging her after them. As much as she struggled, she was still glad to be out of that classroom while at the same time wondering how she kept getting into these situations.

**O0O0O0O**

The Hospital Wing was practically empty except for the grey-haired nurse fussing over Michael, whose hands were already bandaged like a pair of giant clubs.

"Oi! Mike!" Terry called as they came over to crowd his bedside.

The nurse, Madame Pomfrey, snapped her head up to give him a stern look.

"I will _not_ have any shouting in here, Boot."

"But what about his hands?"

"They'll heal in a week or so," she said tartly. "Until then he'll only need someone to help him with his schoolwork since he won't be picking up a quill just yet."

Anthony was the first to jump back. "Make Runny do it! It was her fault anyway!"

"_What?_" Noah and Michael cried at the same time.

"Yeah, that's brilliant!" Terry laughed.

"I said _no shouting,_" The mediwitch snapped, tying the last knot on Michael's bandages.

"Sorry, Poppy," Terry grumbled.

Her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "That's _Madame_ _Pomfrey_ to you, boy"—then she turned to Noah—"Be sure not to let him carry any heavy items. You may need to help him cut his food at dinner as well."

Terry and Anthony snickered as Noah tried to protest, but Madame Pomfrey didn't even hear her as she shooed them out and said they could come back for Michael by dinnertime.

"But we just got here!" Anthony argued. If they had gotten out of Potions earlier, maybe they could skip out on Transfiguration too.

"You're making too much noise and disrupting my other—"

As the two boys tried to bargain with the nurse, Noah had already stomped off, silently fuming at having been put on babysitting duty without even being _asked_. If anything else, Michael deserved those boils and she wished she didn't suck at magic so she could give him a few extra in a more uncomfortable place than just his hands.

She rounded a corner.

_BAM!_

Her world teetered and tottered for a few off seconds as she painfully hit the ground. Soon, a gentle hand picked her up in one movement and she found herself staring into a pair of twinkling, aged blue eyes.

"Do forgive me, Miss Run," said Headmaster Dumbledore apologetically. "I should've been paying more attention to where my feet were taking me."

"S-Sir!" Noah quickly straightened her posture and bowed her head to prepare for a terse scolding from the headmaster. "Sorry! I-I hope I didn't h-h-hurt you or a-anything."

Dumbledore gently brushed her off before patting her shoulder, and smiled. "No harm done, Miss Run, but thank you for your concern."

She nodded vigorously but didn't dare meet his eyes. She'd nearly knocked over the greatest wizard in the world! Not to mention, she was skipping class right now…

"As a matter of fact," Dumbledore continued, "I was hoping to speak with you, if you had the time."

For an instant, Noah forgot her shyness and snapped her head up to stare at him. "Y-You were? Why?"

The old man was just about to open his mouth to answer when Terry's obnoxious voice hollered from behind.

"Hey, Runny, get your sorry ass back here and—" The rest of his sentence froze in his throat as soon as his eyes landed on the headmaster. He and Anthony stopped dead in their tracks.

Terry stood at fast attention. "_Dumbledore? _I-I mean, Headmaster, sir! How are you today?"

Dumbledore nodded in greeting. "I'm quite well, Mr. Boot, thank you for asking. I just need to borrow Miss Run for a little bit is all."

"_Her?_ What for?" Anthony blurted incredulously.

"For reasons I'd rather discuss in my office. Follow me, Miss Run, if you will," said Dumbledore, already strolling off.

Blinking stupidly as nervousness settled in her gut, Noah glanced back at the shocked boys before running to catch up with Dumbledore.

**O0O0O0O**

"Would you care for a lemon drop?"

Dumbledore held out a bowl of his favorite sweets, having already grabbed a handful for himself.

"Um…n-no thank you," Noah answered absently, staring at the magical artifacts and moving portraits of past headmasters that cluttered the circular room.

The Sorting Hat sat on one of the tall bookshelves, unmoving and silent.

"Now, Noah—if I may call you that—I've heard from Professors McGonagall and Flitwick that you've been having some difficulty with your wandwork. Is there anything you'd like to talk about?" He popped a lemon drop into his mouth.

Of course McGonagall wouldn't miss a chance to tell the headmaster how Noah had made the needle she'd transfigured shoot off and jab Lisa Turpin right in her backside. She could still feel the angry glares from her classmates after McGonagall had docked off ten points. And now Lisa stayed a good ten feet away from her whenever they passed each other, hands clasped protectively over her buttocks.

"I-I don't know, sir…I just…I'm trying t-to be careful and…" She took a deep, miserable breath as her face flushed with embarrassment.

Dumbledore smiled a little and nodded. "I see. Well, Noah, your fears are not uncommon. It's perfectly ok to be a little apprehensive when you're just beginning your magical training, but magic is nothing to be afraid of. It is a part of you, after all."

"But I don't w-want to keep b-blowing stuff up!"

It took Dumbledore's quirked eyebrows to make her realize she'd said that out loud. She clamped her hands over her mouth.

"S-Sorry, Professor—sir. I didn't mean to—"

But he held up a hand. "I can only imagine your frustration and will do my best to counsel you. Your magic is strong, Noah, but you must have the courage and faith in yourself to use it for good."

"But it's always been like this a-and…I'm afraid I'll mess up again. Even back at Ca—er, home."

"There is no need to guard your words with me, Noah. Chiron and I are old friends, you see."

Noah's jaw dropped to the floor as she stared at Dumbledore like he'd just grown a second head.

"So, y-you know?" she spluttered. "About me? About Camp?"

He simply nodded. "Yes, Noah, I do. In fact, it was your mother, Hecate, who first gave mortals magic, which is how wizards and witches came to be."

Noah didn't say anything at first, only letting her brain process his words.

"So…does that m-mean..? Have you t-told the other t-teachers?"

"Oh no, Noah. I've not spoken a word of this to any member of the staff. However, there is one person I have talked to, which is what I wanted to discuss with you."

"Who's that? Um, Professor…" It was really weird to have to keep remembering to address all these adults by 'Professor' or 'Sir' or 'Ma'am.' At least at Camp there were only Chiron, Mr. D, and Argus.

"The man's name is Alastor Moody. He is an old friend of mine and a son of Hephaestus," Dumbledore explained. "He is also a retired Auror, but was one of the most powerful during the War."

Noah nodded slowly to show her understanding. Her dad hadn't told her much about the War, but she knew that he was in England in its early stages until he managed to get a transfer in his department to America. Then he met her mom…

"Now, Noah, I have spoken with Alastor about you to see if he would be willing to…train you, for lack of a better word."

"Train m-me?"

"That's correct. It's really more of a means to help you get better control of your magic, because, as I understand it, as a child of Hecate, you are capable of two kinds: our kind and then a more ancient, potent kind. Does this make sense?"

"No, not r-really…"

"Well, let me clarify a bit more. Magic is a dynamic force, much like the fire of western civilization. It's always changing and, over the years, it has taken on different forms from its original one. Take the Sorting Hat for example"—he gestured to the tattered, old thing—"It was created by the magic of Hogwarts' Four Founders. Older magic that I could not perform even if I wanted to. It is a curious artifact indeed and one of few that have survived over the centuries. Our only link to the past, so to speak."

Noah's head was swimming in his words, but her curiosity was peaked at this point.

"A-And I can do this ancient m-magic, right?"

"Yes. Keeping up so far?"

She nodded and was surprised by the genuine smile within his long beard.

"Excellent! Most people would have serious headaches by now." She wondered if he was making a joke, but shrugged it off as he continued. Padma had told her that, while he was a powerful wizard, Dumbledore was still a little mad in the head.

"Based on your teachers' reports, what I've gathered is that your ancient magic is leaking into your wand magic and thus giving your spells a little extra c_hutzpah_, as I've heard muggles say." He chuckled to himself at the peculiar word rolled off his tongue.

"S-So that's why I—is there any way to f-fix it? What'll happen if—"

"Patience, Noah, and I will explain," Dumbledore interrupted softly. "This is why I want you to meet with Alastor. He has a lot of experience in training witches and wizards—"

"Even though he's a son of Hephaestus?" Noah blurted, but then quickly mumbled, "Sorry…sir."

"No, no, it's a rather astute point you've made. But please trust me when I say that Alastor should be the one to train you. That is, if you would like to do so."

Dumbledore folded his hands and leaned back in his seat as Noah thought hard and long.

This was a chance for her to get control of her magic.

But how could a child of Hephaestus help her do that? She thought of her fellow campers of Cabin #9. Building weapons and crazy contraptions are what they were good at. Many were good fighters too, but with weapons, not magic.

"What could happen, Professor?" she asked suddenly.

"If?"

"If my…m-magics…keep mixing together. I-If I don't get it under control."

Her hands clenched at her side, trembling. She wasn't so sure she wanted to hear his answer, but she still _had _to know. Dumbledore watched her interestedly. She was forcing herself to maintain eye contact with him despite her lurking fear. A small fire, he could see, burning in those dark chocolate irises. Dumbledore never forgot a face and he remembered Efren Run's eyes looking exactly like that. But, at the same time, hers were so different from his.

Dumbledore answered her at last. "Well, Noah, the consequences vary from person to person. The only sure thing is that you will continue to have trouble controlling your magic, which could bring serious harm to yourself and those around you."

He looked her steadily in the eyes as he spoke, but she was soon looking at her feet again.

Those around her…

Like Connor, or Hermione, or her dad.

She cringed at the very thought of Hermione lying lifeless before her, eyes dull and empty and her pale skin looking grey, colored only by the thin stream of crimson drawing out of the corner of her mouth…

_NO! That won't happen! Never!_

"Professor," she said at last, still shivering a little from the mental image. "I-I'll do it. I'll meet with Alastor Moody."

Suddenly, Dumbledore clapped his hands together with the cheeriest of smiles. "Excellent! How about we ship you over now to get acquainted, hm?"

"Wh-What? _Now,_ sir?" she blanched, nearly falling over at this random statement.

"There is, as muggles often say, no time like the present, wouldn't you agree?"

**O0O0O0O**

"I know. I know. Constant vigilance!" moaned Tonks, tapping her foot impatiently.

Her hair was violet tonight but her jeans were still ripped to match her t-shirt.

"Well, maybe if you actually paid attention, you'd quit knocking into everything," Moody growled. "It may seem like I'm being a little paranoid—"

"A _little_?"

"—BUT your stealth and tracking are horrible. If I can hear you when I'm asleep, then you can bet that a dark wizard will hear you when he's awake and alert."

Tonks, properly scolded, sighed with resignation. No amount of excuses would save her from Moody's criticism.

Satisfied that he had managed to win this argument against his willful apprentice, Moody started again. "Now—"

But before he could finish, a young girl came flying out of his fireplace.

**O0O0O0O**

Dumbledore's office disappeared in a blur as Noah began spinning very fast. Out of instinct, she pressed her elbows firmly to her side as she moved from fireplace to fireplace, barely catching a glimpse of whose homes they belonged to. After what felt like ages, Noah realized that she was slowing down and the next thing she knew, she was thrown to a wooden floor from a stone fireplace. Her arms, which she had used to break her fall, throbbed painfully, but she ignored them and pushed herself to her feet.

_I hate Floo._

Looking up, she was met with two tall figures staring right at her with blank faces. One was a teenaged girl with purple hair and bright eyes that hardly blinked as they stared her up and down. The other figure was a grizzly, older man with a face that looked like someone had tried to carve it out of wood but gave up halfway through the futile project.

"Um, e-excuse me," Noah began uncertainly, "I'm N-Noah Run."

"Well, of course you are," the man snapped, which made her shrink a little. "If you weren't, the security system I have would've blown you to pieces."

His face kept its straight scowl as her eyes widened. He had to be joking, right? Not even Connor could keep such a straight face when he was pulling a prank.

"Oh come on, Mad-Eye, don't scare the poor girl right off. She just got here," the purple-haired girl said loftily.

She then strolled over to Noah like they were old friends and gently patted the soot off her small body. "I'm Tonks. Wotcher, Noah." She stuck out her hand, which Noah weakly took as she focused on the floor.

"Um, hi…"

"And that cheerful old codger is Mad-Eye Moody."

Noah only nodded, not daring to look up at the scarred man, who was sizing her up as he firmly held his wand at his side. His body was tense and unrelenting, like he was expecting her to attack him any second.

"D-Dumbledore said I should come a-and train—"

"I know why you're here, girl," said Moody. "Come on and let's get started already."

He turned and limped off, leaving Tonks to gently pull her along to follow.

The wooden floor creaked lightly under Noah's weight as she made her way further into the cottage. It could easily be sectioned off into four distinct areas.

On the left side opposite the fireplace was a tall cabinet closet and long high table both cluttered with cauldrons, scrolls, and a variety of potion ingredients. On the opposite side and to the right, sat a small table and kitchen area near a stairway. To her immediate right was a box containing more scrolls, and a coat and broom rack. And the fourth section she stood in had a small sofa and chairs all gathered around a small café table. The entire cottage was decorated with a foggy mirror, glass spinning tops lying uselessly on the floor, and a bunch of alarm bells in the top corners.

"If you're finished looking like a cod fish, maybe we can get started now," came Moody's abrupt inquiry.

Noah jumped nervously. "Yessir! S-Sorry, I just—"

"Oi, relax," Tonks cut her off playfully. "He's actually in a good mood, so no need to be so formal."

Noah found herself in awe of how this girl dared to poke fun at the grim man, who only grunted and jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"All right, Tonks, you get upstairs and start on those codes waiting for you."

"There's _more_ of them?" Tonks cried, scandalized.

"That's right. Now scram while I take care of the little one here." A crooked grin spread across his face as he rubbed his hands together.

_Crap, he looked better without the smile,_ Noah decided.

**O0O0O0O**

And so the next few hours passed. Noah scrubbed and polished grimy, black cauldrons and stacked them neatly against the wall. Moody directed her as she cleared the high table, pointing out and explaining different herbs and potions ingredients to her. She had to wonder what knowing all of this had to do with controlling her magic, but didn't dare voice these thoughts to him. She only silently listened to his gruff talk that didn't cease even when she accidentally dropped one of the potion ingredients she'd been reorganizing.

"What was that, girl?" he barked.

She picked up the shattered vial that had the label dangling from it.

"Um…it w-was b-burmsloong…no, wait…" She frowned in concentration. "B-Boomslang skin," she answered shakily, awaiting his wrath as he marched over.

He surveyed the mess intently. "Boomslang skin, eh? That comes from a—"

"Boomslang snake. A venomous colubrid native to sub-Saharan Africa. This one's green, so it must've come from a male," Noah finished for him.

Moody stared at her and she averted her eyes. "S-Sorry. I-I don't know how I—"

"What's another name for this snake?" Moody interrupted.

"_Dispholidus typus_," she answered immediately. Then she shook her head. "How did I do that?"

He thought for a moment. "Your mother," he said. "The animals often used to represent her throughout history were the snake and dog, so you must have some inherent knowledge or powers over them."

"Fang!"Noah blurted. "Th-That's why I-I can understand him!"

"And who's Fang?"

"He's Hagrid p-pet dog b-back at school."

"I see…" He smirked to himself as if he'd thought of something amusing, but then brushed it off. "That's all well and good, but what about my boomslang skin? It'll have to be replaced, don't you think?"

"Um, yes…I-I s'pose…"

"You suppose!" Moody replied sarcastically. "I ought to think so, girl. Well, I won't say anymore, but you'd best figure out a way to replace it soon. There's the broom over there. Clean this up and then take a few of these ingredients upstairs to the closet so I can work with them later."

Noah wordlessly obeyed, trying not to look worried about how she was going to pay him back. She didn't have enough money and there was no way she could ask her dad for some without a good enough reason. And it certainly wasn't listed in the students' supply list.

Deciding to worry about it later, she focused on carefully making her way up the stairs with the box of clinking vials, the smell of herbal incense and wood reaching her nose as she got closer to the next level. It looked like a miniature version of Hogwarts' library with tall bookshelves and a single window allowing her to glimpse outside to see the sun dipping behind distant hills that made her wonder if she had already missed dinner. A comfy armchair sat off in a corner underneath a reading lamp, and then there was a desk cluttered with parchment and quills and ink bottles where Tonks sat grumbling miserably to herself.

Noah found the closet door between two shelves and quietly went over to it to not disturb the older girl, even though a part of her wanted to stop and chat for a minute. She hadn't even had a break yet from all that cleaning and she smelled strongly of cauldron polish, which she hoped none of her roommates would notice when she got back.

"D'you think violet makes me look a bit peaky?"

Setting the box inside the closet, Noah turned and saw Tonks looking from her to her purple locks.

"Um, s-sorry?" Noah said, feeling a little self-conscious under the friendly smile.

"Violet. I like the color, but it doesn't seem to be working out for my hair. Hold on."

She scrunched her eyes closed and her hair turned bubblegum pink.

"Wow!" Noah cried, gaping. "How'd you do that?"

"I'm a Metamorphmagus," she said, running a hand through the short, spiky locks. "It means I can change my appearance. I was born this way."

"Oh," was all Noah could say, unable to stop staring.

Tonks chuckled. "You're pretty shy, aren't you?"

Noah blushed and nodded meekly.

"Well, don't be!" chirped a new, familiar voice. "Just pretend like you're talking to yourself."

Startled, Noah looked up and saw her head...on Tonks' body. A tiny giggle escaped her, but pretty soon she was laughing out loud.

"Yeah, that's more like it," said Tonks, changing back to her normal appearance. "I bet you I'll ace Concealment and Disguise at Auror training."

"Y-You want t-to be an Auror?" Noah asked, curious and feeling a little more relaxed now to come closer.

"Yep," Tonks said proudly. "I'm going to start next year and Mad-Eye's been training me. He owes a favor to my mum, or something like that."

"Are b-both of y-your parents magical?"

Tonks shook her head. "Mum's pureblood and Dad's muggle-born. How about yours?"

"Er…the same."

"Heh…small world. What House are you in?"

"R-Ravenclaw. You?"

"I was in Hufflepuff. I graduated a little while ago. Here, sit down."

Tonks pulled out her wand and gave it a flick, which caused the armchair in the corner to skid over. With another flick, she lifted Noah off her feet and floated her into it.

"Th-Thanks," Noah giggled.

Tonks shrugged lazily. "No prob. Talking to you is loads better than these stupid codes. Besides, I've made it my personal mission to break you of this shyness."

Noah looked down at her lap even though she was smiling a little. "What k-kind of c-codes?" she asked softly.

"Just the kind the Aurors used during the war to send secret messages. They're sooo boring, and I can hardly figure them out. See? It's all gibberish." Tonks held up a piece of parchment that was covered with strange, squiggly symbols.

Noah examined them and frowned. They looked awfully familiar…

"That one"—she pointed to one in the center—"it m-means 'warning.' And the one n-next to it means 'enemy.'"

She stood up and took the parchment to read over it. Now she remembered!

"Th-This is the language that th-thieves u-used back in a-ancient Greek times!" she exclaimed suddenly.

Connor had taught it to her and often sent her messages with it when he had a new mission for her.

"And it was believed that the god Hermes gave them this language to be used in secret."

Noah and Tonks turned around and saw Moody coming over to them. Noah stood at quick attention, now worried that the ex-Auror would yell at her for slacking, but he only jerked his two fingers.

"Come on, then, girl. What does the rest of the message say?" he beckoned her.

Relieved that she wasn't in trouble, Noah started reading the parchment again.

"It's mostly s-saying that there's a D-Death Eater attack h-h-happening in northern London and that re-reinforcements should be s-sent over," she managed to say.

Moody nodded approvingly. "Not bad. Where'd you learn the Thieves Code?"

Noah glanced at Tonks, who was looking at her keenly now, and chose her words carefully. "M-My friend taught me."

"Then how about you take care of these boring old things?" Tonks said brightly, excited by her own idea.

She pushed the staggering pile of parchment away from herself.

"Not so fast, Tonks," said Moody. "You'll still have to learn these in time for your Auror training. Don't think you'll get off easy just because of the little one here."

"But it'll take me forever to do all of these, Mad-Eye!" Tonks protested. "And it's Noah's fault for being a genius."

She winked at the smaller girl, which made Noah smile weakly even though she hardly agreed with her fellow apprentice about the "genius" part.

Moody rubbed his chin and seemed to be entertaining an amusing thought. "Quit whining, Tonks. I've got a better idea…."

He then removed about five scrolls from the pile and thrust them into Noah's arms. "Here, girl. Have them translated from start to end before our next meeting, or else…"

Noah gulped as the warning hung in the air. "O-Or else wh-what?" she croaked.

That same crooked grin stretched his face, making her skin crawl. "Well now…that's for me to know and you to find out."


	10. Summons from the Stars

**Another lengthy update because I'm long overdue for a new chapter.**

**I've been seeing in my stats that people are still reading this, which is awesome, but it also seems there are some readers who actually go through all these chapters in one go. I'm impressed, to say the least—I don't think I could do it myself even when I need to reread parts to make sure I stay consistent.**

**Anyway, onwards!**

* * *

><p><strong>Summons from the Stars<strong>

Hermione couldn't believe her luck. Just when she thought her day was going so perfectly from getting an Outstanding on her transfiguration homework to receiving a note from her parents saying she could invite a friend or two over for the Christmas holidays, she'd been in such high spirits until now.

"Look, why don't you get lost and quit following us?" snapped Ron Weasley for the tenth time.

"And where do you expect me to go?" she retorted shrilly. "I'm locked out of Gryffindor Tower thanks to you two, and now we're on the verge of being expelled because you had to pick a fight with Malfoy."

She glowered at him and Harry Potter, who also looked completely unashamed in his bathrobe.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't have to if he weren't such a stupid git," he argued.

"That's no reason at all!"

She couldn't believe how stupid boys could be! Her mom had always told her that it was mostly puberty, but sometimes she wasn't so sure.

"Anyway, no one asked you to listen in on our conversation," Ron said loudly.

"But you're going to lose Gryffindor all the points I earned from McGonagall for knowing about—"

"Shut it!" hissed Harry, "I hear a weird noise."

That quickly silenced Hermione, who held her breath as she heard it too. A gurgling, snuffle sound.

"Please don't be Mrs. Norris. Please don't be Mrs. Norris," she chanted desperately to herself, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Harry dared to venture closer to the source, which was a large, round shape huddled in a dark corner.

"Hold on," he said at last. "It's Neville."

Their fellow Gryffindor was fast asleep, but jerked awake suddenly at the mention of his name.

"Oh, Harry! Ron! Hermione! Thank goodness you found me! I've been stuck out here for hours and—"

"Keep your voice down, Neville. The Fat Lady's gone off, so we're locked out too."

Hermione nearly collapsed with relief and came closer. "How's your arm now?" she said.

"As good as new. Madame Pomfrey fixed it in no time compared to getting Trevor out of my, um…I forgot what she called it."

"Your larynx, I believe. It's more commonly called a 'voice box' since it manipulates a person's pitch and volume." She nodded at her own statement, quite certain that she was right.

Neville only stared at her, blinking stupidly.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I think that's what she called it. But where were you guys going?"

Hermione made an exasperated noise and shook her head. "Those two are going to duel Draco Malfoy and cost us all more points. I tried to stop them, but they won't listen—"

"Um, Hermione?"

"—Honestly, they're being very selfish and stupid about this and—"

"Hermione!"

"_What?_"

Neville pointed behind her. "They're already gone."

She spun around, eyes darting all over the corridor, but Neville was right. Harry and Ron had disappeared into thin air.

"Now where did they go? And how did they take off so fast?" she demanded to the empty space in front of her.

The stone walls gave no reply, which made her throw her hands up in total frustration. "I can't _believe_ them!"

"Do you remember how to get back to Gryffindor Tower?" Neville asked in a small voice. He wasn't sure if he wanted to get lost in the dark castle along with his irate housemate. Honestly, Hermione was a little scary when she was angry. Not to mention how good she was at casting spells.

Without giving an answer, Hermione was already marching off and left the pudgy boy no choice but to scramble after her. For the next few minutes, they seemed to be making good progress and getting closer to their destination until they got to one of the staircases. It suddenly lurched under their feet and swung to a different landing.

"Oh darn it!" Hermione groaned, but had no choice but to trek in this new direction.

Neville was already ahead of her, not wanting to stay stranded in the halls any longer. All they could do was hope that Filch wasn't waiting for them around the next corner.

"I think we should go this way," Hermione said, tugging on Neville's arm.

But instead of getting back to Gryffindor tower, they ended up in front of a random door that was slightly ajar with a thin stream of light coming from within the room. Perhaps there was a teacher in there who could help them out?

"Wait!" Neville whispered frantically, but she ignored him and peered inside.

There were two teachers inside—Professors Quirrel and Snape—and they were nose-to-nose in a deep conversation. Neither had noticed the two students and Snape said in his most menacing voice,

"Now, Quirrel, you don't want me as your enemy."

"P-P-Please, S-Severus, I don't kn-kn-know what y-y-you're t-talking—"

"Tell me what you _stole_, you bumbling fool and—" He finished his sentence in a language neither Hermione nor Neville could understand at all.

"What d'you think they're doing?" Neville squeaked, but Hermione quickly shushed him.

Even though a teacher was what they had been looking for, her curiosity was too great for her to resist watching this unsettling scene in front of her.

Unfortunately though, Snape seemed to have finished whatever he was saying to Quirrel and started towards the door. Barely holding back a cry, Hermione turned and sprinted away from the scene, dragging Neville behind her. Their only problem now was that they were probably no longer going in the direction from which they came.

She had just finished mentally cursing Harry and Ron when she slammed headfirst into something that cried out "Blimey!"

Thankfully, Neville plump body broke her fall but now they were both in a heap on the floor and at the mercy of the tall figures standing over them.

"You again?!" In a strange turn of events, that voice belonged to Ron. Harry groaned after him.

"It seems like everyone's out of bed tonight," Ron's brother, George Weasley, remarked. "All right there, Hermione?"

Hermione jumped to her feet. "I was doing fine until _these two_ decided to sneak out and—"

"Challenge Malfoy to a duel. Yeah, we heard," Fred finished for her. "The slimy little git didn't even show up, but George and I rescued ickle Ronniekins before Filch caught us."

"Sod off," Ron grumbled, resenting the baby name that made his ears tinge pink.

"Malfoy tricked you, Harry. You _do_ realize that, don't you?" Hermione snapped, her brain having already deduced what had transpired for her housemates.

"How did you find us?" Harry asked the twins, ignoring her completely.

"The same way we found Hermione and Neville," answered George.

"H-How?" Neville asked.

"Don't worry your little heads, dear firsties. We have our ways," Fred chuckled cryptically.

And on that note, the twins strolled off, leading the group of younger Gryffindors back to the common room. While Ron was busy complaining about how some people didn't know how to mind their own business, Hermione was lost in her thoughts about Quirrel and Snape's strange behaviors.

She cast a sidelong glance at Neville, wondering if he was just as bothered by similar thoughts. Yet he was busy chatting away with Harry as if he'd been with them the whole time, which meant that Hermione was alone in her suspicions—even though she had no idea what they were. Or maybe she was just overanalyzing things.

It didn't matter…all she knew was that she needed someone to talk to. She needed Noah.

**O0O0O0O**

In spite of her initial fears, Noah grew to look forward to her encounters with Moody. They never had a set schedule or pattern: he might summon her only on weekends, or he might summon her every night for a week straight, leaving her staggering about her daytime activities. The only things that were set about her training was that they were in the evenings (often not long after dinnertime) and that they were meant to be kept secret.

"Mind you, Girl, no one is to know about what we do here. I'm retired and I don't need it getting around that I'm taking up apprentices left and right. Are we clear on that?" Moody had warned her just before the end of her first visit.

Meekly, she agreed but soon realized that this arrangement forced her to be able to come up with a worthy lie as to why Padma would find her bed empty in the middle of the night or why Hermione hadn't seen much of her at all lately. In part, she could blame Terry and Michael who were always dragging her off to study and write Michael's homework for him while his hands remained bandaged. Her only reprieve was that Anthony would always ditch them whenever the other two decided to include her into their rowdy games.

It was a strenuous routine for the young girl, but one she found herself settling into. She was just glad that Moody wasn't assigning her anymore scrolls, which would've only doubled her homework load, but that didn't mean there wasn't a tremendous scope to his strange lessons. One evening might be spent laboriously translating codes or studying Greek mythology. Another was practicing meditation as a means to construct a mental barrier between her two magics and to condition her body to only activate one at a time. This was the hardest lesson to learn because it forced her to sit still and concentrate for several hours, something her ADHD did not want to let her do. It was even harder to follow Moody's orders and meditate every night before bed.

There were also lessons that had absolutely nothing to do with magic. The first one involved him teaching her a spell to translate all of her textbooks into ancient Greek. After that he taught her sleight of hand tricks and how to make objects of any size disappear before a spectator's very eyes. He also had her practice Stealth and Tracking with Tonks outside in the yard. How to spot counterfeit galleons and drachmas. How to haggle with the Gray Sisters over taxi fare.

And then there were the rather quirky "missions" he would assign her to complete on her own time. For instance, he first commanded her to go to each of her teachers on different days and explain to them that she was dyslexic and had ADHD. And then she must report back that same evening the entire conversation word for word while he asked her a dozen questions about how each professor stood, and was he or she left-handed and what were they doing at the time. Her shyness and stuttering were never to be used as an excuse for failing the assignments.

When she had to talk to Snape, it had been almost disastrous. Being alone with the sallow-faced man who glared at her like she was an insignificant creature was not her idea of a perfect evening. Worse yet was the end of her explanation to which Snape replied in his silky voice,

"Well, Run, I suppose it's unfortunate that you have all these learning disabilities that come with being a _halfblood_. Now if you're done wasting my time, you may get out."

Noah practically ran out of the classroom after that and once she relayed all of this to Moody, she quickly added,

"H-He _knows_ about m-me, Moody. He kn-knows what I am."

Of course, her mentor was not one to offer words of comfort as he rubbed his grizzled chin thoughtfully.

"You're probably right, Run, and that's why you need to focus harder on your meditation so you don't give yourself away so easily from now on."

That was not what she had been hoping to hear and it gave her no room to ask anymore questions such as: What would Snape do now that he knew her secret? And more importantly, why didn't Moody seemed bothered by this? In fact, he seemed to think that she shouldn't be either. Whatever his reasons, their lessons continued on in normal fashion and she had no choice but to push her anxieties to the side.

Despite this event, not once did it occur to Noah to question or complain about Moody's instructions; instead she found herself striving to complete each one to the best of her abilities with hopes of gaining the gruff wizard's approval. He never gave her a direct compliment or even a smile beyond the wry, plotting smirk she'd gotten used to. Often he just gave a simple nod or stated,

"You're improving, girl, I'll give you that. But don't become so impressed with yourself that you become clumsy or lazy. That's when you make mistakes that will cost you your life. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

**O0O0O0O**

_Hey, Noah!_

_A singing hat? Seriously? Talk about random._

_By the way, that owl of yours got here about a week later or so and landed right on top of our Aunt Sylvia's head in the middle of dinner. She went totally nuts, running around and screaming, until she ran into the wall and knocked herself out. It was freaking hilarious and you saved Travis and me from another one of her boring talks about her job (she's a cafeteria lady at a nursing home. Bleh!)_

_The school year is as boring as ever. Pre-Algebra, Environmental Science, and tons of other lame subjects. We haven't been attacked by any monsters, though! Wow, a teacher scarier than Hades himself. Sucks to be you, haha._

_This Hermione can't be more amazing than me, right? Have you told her that you're a you-know-what?_

_Yeah, let's IM as soon as you get this letter. Travis and I will be on…vacation, so to speak, so just pick any day. It's gotta be within the week though just in case the cleaning crew does figure out how to get rid of that smell…Anyway, forget about that._

_Later!_

_Connor_

_P.S. Travis just told me that that was a stupid way to end a letter, so I'll also say that I hope you're not blowing anything up at this new school of yours._

"Well, well, look who's here too."

A hand yanked away the book Noah had been hiding behind as she read Connor's letter. It was Terry and he had a cursing Michael by the arm, not even trying to be careful of the boy's tightly-bandaged hands. Noah knew they'd been looking for her.

"Good to see you, Runny," Terry said with unnerving cheerfulness as he pulled Michael forward, causing the boy to yelp when his hand banged against the edge of the table. "I brought you a present."

Before she could even argue, he was already unloading books and quills and parchment all over the table while ignoring the string of impressive curse words Michael was hissing at him. "I'll see you guys in the common room later."

With that, he strolled off, leaving Michael to grumble as he took his usual seat next to Noah.

She groaned just as miserably. Between her usual load of schoolwork and her training, this was the only free time she had, but now…

She pulled up his half-finished star chart sitting there with all the mistakes in full view.

"I thought I already told you the difference between a third quarter moon and new moon," she said, massaging her temple.

"Whoa, that's the first time I've ever hear you talk like a normal person," he said with mild surprise, then sat back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table. "Anyway, who cares about the stupid moon?"

"Y-You should if you don't wanna fail," Noah said through gritted teeth.

"Says the teacher's pet," he snorted. "All right, get to work, Runny. I need my history essay done pronto."

Noah resisted the urge to chuck his own book at him, but instead opened it up to the pages about Ulric the Oddball's earliest inventions.

She'd written only a few lines of the essay when she heard a familiar voice wafting over the rows of bookshelves. She looked up just in time to see a frizzy wave of brown hair followed by Hermione's beaming face come around the corner.

"Noah! Padma said you were here and I was wondering if—"

But Hermione's once excited face had fallen instantly as soon as they fully took in the sight of Noah…_her_ Noah sitting with none other than Michael Corner.

"H-Hermione?" Noah squeaked. "I-I can explain! I—"

Before Noah could stammer out anything else, Hermione pulled her to her feet, and dragged her away to hide behind a bookcase far away from the amused Michael.

"What is _he_ doing here?" Hermione hissed in a low voice. "And why was he sitting so close to you?"

"I have to help him," Noah answered glumly. "He and Terry are forcing me to until his hands get better."

"_Terry?_" Hermione said dangerously. Since when was Noah on a first-name basis with those two jerks?

Noah gulped when she realized her mistake. "I mean B-Boot!" she amended quickly. "They're forcing me to do his homework."

Hermione remained incredulous. "_Forcing you_?" she nearly shrieked. "How dare they? You should tell a teacher! I'm sure Professor Flitwick would—"

"No!" Noah even surprised herself at her abrupt answer and she quickly muttered an apology to the stunned Hermione. "Look, I just…they're not giving me too much of a h-hard time, ok? I-I can handle it." She looked her friend in the eye to silently convey her seriousness.

A part of her was surprised that she had meant what she said about the two boys not giving her a hard time. They were still obnoxious, but bearable once she had survived the first night with them.

Hermione still didn't look very happy and those normally clear brown eyes seemed clouded over with a thin haze of…fear? Uncertainty?

"But…you've been hanging around them a lot, Noah." She couldn't keep the strain out of her voice. "You didn't even look up when I called you in the hallway the other day because you were too busy talking to Corner."

"No! It's not like that! I had to help him carry his books and then he wouldn't shut up about Quidditch. I didn't hear you. If I had, I would've ditched him in a second."

Hermione gave a small smile at that, but Noah knew she wasn't totally convinced yet, so she grabbed the Gryffindor's shoulders, pushing against them slightly to force her to respond by looking up at her.

"Honest, Hermione. You're my best friend. Neither of those guys will _ever_ replace you. P-Please believe me." Her eyes were desperate, unsure of how else to prove her sincerity.

Hermione finally gave in and nodded. "I do, No. Are you sure you don't mind being friends with a bossy know-it-all?"

"Yay, my favorite kind," Noah said cheerily, playing with a strand of Hermione's hair. She could smell the chocolate raspberry in it again.

Hermione laughed and then, without warning, leaned in and placed a quick kiss Noah's cheek.

"Thanks, No. But if they try _anything_, I'm going straight to a teacher," she said warningly.

Noah didn't even hear her as her jaw went slack and her brain zapped off like a TV. Her skin flushed and she could still feel the soft lips there…

"H-Hermione?" she croaked out finally. "I…you wha—huh? Kiss?"

She got a mischievous look in reply. "You should see your face, No."

But all Noah could think about was that Hermione had kissed her.

_I've got to be the luckiest person in the world!_ An airy feeling swept through her as her heart sped up.

It was a strange kind of euphoria she had never felt before. All she knew is that she wanted it to last for as long as possible.

She started to bring her hand up to touch her cheek, but stopped. She didn't want to accidentally wipe it away, after all. Besides, Hermione was talking to her again.

"—to visit? Noah?"

"Sorry, what?"

"I came to see if you wanted to visit Hagrid with me. That's why I—"

"Champion idea, Granger! Let's get out of here."

Both girls nearly jump out of their skin when Michael suddenly appeared.

"How long were you standing there?" Hermione snapped.

"Long enough to catch you two snogging," he snickered.

Noah only gave him a weird look before glancing to see if Hermione knew what that bizarre word meant. All she saw was her friend spluttering with a face redder than a tomato.

_He probably just made it up_, she decided, though still a little confused.

"We were doing nothing of the sort!" said Hermione, shrilly. "Besides, I didn't invite _you_, Corner."

"So what?" Michael argued loudly. "There's no way in hell I'm staying here all by my—"

A skinny, menacing shadow with vulture eyes appeared over him that startled all three of them into attention.

"How dare you hooligans make such a ruckus in my library!" hissed the creepy librarian, Madam Irma Pince. "Out—out—OUT!"

She didn't even wait to hear their protests before she charmed Michaels' parchment and books to attack them over their heads and chase them out.

**O0O0O0O**

**NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN ST. MUNGO'S MYSTERY**

_Just last week, the Healers at St. Mungo's Hospital have finally commented on the conditions of the three muggle-born witches and wizards, who had been missing for two months._

_The victims were enrolled in the Janus Thickey Ward on 25 August, but are not yet in "appropriate states-of-minds" to identify their kidnappers._

_It is widely suspected that this is the work of the Death Eaters, but Ministry officials refuse to comment on the progress so far as their focus is on the condition of the recently-returned Pius Thicknesse._

Noah threw down the article on Hagrid's huge, six-legged table, shot up in her seat, and murmured,

"That's when we were in Diagon Alley!"

"What is it, Noah?" Hermione looked up from the tea Hagrid had offered her and watched Noah carefully.

"Yeah, what're you on about now, Runny?" asked Michael, standing up to snatch the paper from her.

Instantly, Hermione was at Noah's side where she looped a protective arm around the smaller girl's waist. Noah blushed at the contact, but appreciated the warmth from Hermione's body nonetheless and unconsciously leaned into her.

"You didn't have to take the paper from her!" she said waspishly.

Michael threw an obscene gesture her way, which made her start to swell up like an angry balloon, but she immediately calmed when Noah gently nudged her.

"It's ok, Hermione. Just ignore him," she reassured her.

Hermione gave her a small smile, even though she was still a bit miffed that Michael had ended up coming with them after all.

"Fine." She let her arm fall, but blushed when Noah rested her head on her shoulder. She pretended not to notice the look Michael was giving them from behind the newspaper. "So, what were you talking about?"

"Something happened at St. Mungo's the day Dad and I were in Diagon Alley," Noah answered. "Something to do with those Death Eaters again…"

There was a crash and the three children saw Hagrid looking at them severely with the handle of his teacup in his hand. The rest of the cup lay in pieces on the floor.

"Oi! No talkin' 'bout Death Eaters in here, all righ'?" he said gruffly.

They were all startled by the sudden change from his earlier cheery mood when he'd been talking about the cabbages he was growing and the friendly chat he'd had with an old friend of his back at the Hog's Head.

"But w-we weren't…the p-paper was," Noah retorted.

"What _are_ these Death Eaters anyway, Hagrid? You didn't say anything about them when you explained everything about Hogwarts to me," Hermione nearly scolded the giant man.

"Yeh don't need ter know 'bout them, Hermione. Best put it out o' yer mind."

"My dad works at St. Mungo's," Michael said suddenly, frowning over the article. "Maybe he knows something…"

"Oh please, Hagrid, can't you tell us something?" Hermione pressed. "Why are people so afraid of these Death Eaters?"

Hagrid sighed heavily and stood to clean up the pool of tea, but Fang was already there, licking at the puddle on the hard wood floor with his large tongue.

"Yer too young ter understand," he began slowly, "but what I can tell yeh is that they're a dangerous group o' wizards who served under You-Know-Who attackin' muggles, muggle-borns, and so-called blood traitors fer a few decades. Happy now?"

The children shivered at the mention of the Dark Lord, and Noah remembered some of the chilling stories her dad had told her the dark wizard, Lord Voldemort. Hagrid nodded solemnly at their reactions, hoping that would scare them out of all this gloomy talk.

But Noah was already blurting out, "But why? And wh-what are blood traitors?"

Hagrid scratched his shaggy head uncomfortably. "Noah, yer too curious fer yer own good," he grumbled, which made her a little abashed. "They think muggles don't deserve magic, as far as I can tell. And 'blood traitors' is an awful name to call wizards just 'cause they don' hate muggles. Now, tha's _enough_ questions, yeh three. Best yeh get back up to the castle afore it gets too dark."

"Don't bother, Hagrid, Ravenclaws have Astronomy tonight," Michael said loftily. "Besides, we can do _Lumos_ anyway. Well, maybe not Runny," he added with a smirk at Noah.

Noah at least managed to glower back at him. "Don't rub it in," she grumbled.

He laughed. "Or you'll do what? I'm surprised you haven't blown up a classroom yet with the way you're casting spells."

He elbowed her in the side, but not too hard. It was actually the same way Connor did it sometimes… Still, it was enough to make Hermione protectively step in front of her, which made Michael roll his eyes. Even Noah was surprised at how protective her friend had become of her in the past hour, but it made her blush a little while hiding a tiny smile.

Hagrid started to send them on their way, but Noah was hardly out the door when she nearly fell on her face after tripping over Fang, who had suddenly gotten under her feet.

"Oww, Fang…" she grumbled, her ankle throbbing.

_My apologies. I only wanted to get your attention._

"Why?" Did he want her to scratch his stomach again?

_I couldn't help overhearing your conversation and wanted to let you know that a friend of mine back in Diagon Alley told me a hooded figure did it._

"What hooded figure? Did what?"

_Returned those victims. He didn't know who it was, except that they had a…dangerous scent to them. All he knows is that the person muttered something in a strange language._

Noah slowly processed his words as she patted his head. "Thanks, Fang. I'll see you around."

_No problem. Most people, even wizards, don't realize that we dogs see much more than they do._

"Hey, I thought I was your best friend," said soft voice behind her.

Noah let out a yelp and spun around to Hermione smirking at her.

"I-I just like dogs. That's all," she said quickly. For only a flash of a second, she wondered back to Connor's letter about her telling Hermione the truth.

"Are you jealous?" She smiled to show she was joking.

Hermione laughed and reached over to lace their fingers together, and led her back towards the castle. Michael was already far ahead of them, perfectly happy to leave Noah behind to carry his textbooks.

"Of course, I am." Hermione pretended to pout, which made Noah laugh.

"Well, don't be. You're my bossy know-it-all, remember?"

"Good. And you're my tiny, crazy-haired geek."

"Hey!"

**O0O0O0O**

By midnight Noah was trapped between Terry and Michael in the castle's highest tower, setting up her telescope on the parapet. The other two were cheerfully jinxing Stephen Cornfoot's telescope to dance around and smack other Ravenclaws in their shins. They were almost out of breath when the telescope hit Padma, who glared at Noah instead in silent accusation, which she pretended not to notice.

The Indian girl had been giving her the silent treatment for the past few days after accusing her of being a hypocrite for spending so much time with Terry and Michael. Noah had tried to join her and her friends in one of their study groups to make up for it, but they promptly got up and left her alone and feeling miserable at having lost her only friend in Ravenclaw.

The cobalt sky was cloudless and shimmering thanks to the infinite number of stars beaming down on the crowd of first-year Ravenclaws as their lesson began. Noah had just adjusted her telescope to the correct constellation when the dark clouds swirled and the stars slowly began rearranging themselves to form the beautiful face of a woman.

"Whoa," Noah breathed. She was about to call Professor Sinistra over, but a stern, female voice suddenly boomed in her head.

_Do not turn away from me, godling, especially not when I am about to speak._

The voice sounded like the nagging mother of one of her classmates back in elementary school. The kind of mother who would scold you in public.

Looking through her telescope again, Noah saw the face made of stars looking straight at her as the lips started moving.

_That's better. Now do not interrupt me either. Just listen, for I will only say this once._

"But…who are you?" Noah asked as politely as she could. Even though she was a little nervous about all these voices she was suddenly hearing, she was also surprised that she wasn't stuttering too badly.

The voice made an exasperated noise. _Honestly, children today have no sense. Back in my day, mortals and half-bloods alike knew the name of a god or goddess before they had even learned to read._

"Wait…you're a goddess?" blurted Noah incredulously.

The starry eyes narrowed at her in a scowl that was scarier than McGonagall's. _Well, of course I am! Have you not guessed it, child? I am Nyx, the goddess of night._

"Oh…er, I see."

_Now, if I can continue, please? Yes? And close your mouth, child of Hecate, I do not have much patience for gawpers._

Noah doubted that this goddess had much patience for _anything_ but she wisely did as she was told.

_Good. Now, my poor baby, Hypnos, has been robbed. I've no idea who would dare to do such a thing to such a sweet little god but what concerns me now is having his magic item returned immediately. And that is why I come to you._

"But why me?"

_You are the closest demigod I could find. Instead of accusing you, godling, I am giving you a chance to prove yourself._

"B-But what are you talking about? What was stolen?"

_The Orb of Hypnos. It took him years to make especially since he kept falling asleep, and it's his favorite item. I want it returned before he notices that it's gone and becomes terribly upset. It is a dangerous object and is not to be misused, do you understand?_

A part of Noah doubted that Hypnos could ever be "terribly upset." If he was anything like his son, Clovis, back at Camp, it'd be years before he'd even notice a thing. And even if he did, he'd probably fall asleep again before doing anything to get it back.

"Um, what does it do?" she ventured to ask.

_That is not your concern, child. Simply answer yes or no. If you find the Orb and return it, I will reward you. Do. You. Understand?_

Noah gulped at the goddess's menacing tone and nodded quickly. Why did gods have to be so cranky? Still, if she knew one thing, it was that you never ignored a summons from the gods.

"I-I understand, but _how_ should I find it—"

"Miss Run? Are you feeling ok?"

Noah nearly knocked over her telescope as Professor Sinistra morphed into her peripheral vision, slowly approaching her as if she was some strange animal.

Nearly everyone was staring at her, which sent her knees into a shaking frenzy as she ducked her head to hide her embarrassment.

_Of all the times to be approached by a goddess,_ she thought irritably.

Then she realized that Nyx's voice wasn't nagging her and she hurried to peer through her telescope again (after assuring the professor that she didn't need to go to the hospital wing).

The dark sky was undisturbed, but she could still feel those starry eyes bearing down on her.

* * *

><p><strong>Guys, I absolutely promise that there will be some action in the next chapter because that's when Halloween happens! I'm halfway through it in writing and editing. I will definitely try to update by December 18 because I have finals all next week.<strong>

**Thanks for reading/reviewing/alerting/favoriting! And for being patient with my procrastinating, trollish ways.**


	11. Monsters in the Dark

**Sorry, all! I'm a bit late. Christmas-related errands kicked my ass this week. Here is the next chapter! I won't be able to update for at least two weeks because I'll be out of town, but I hope you enjoy this. Sorry for any spelling mistakes: I rushed through proofreading this time.**

**Merry Christmas!**

* * *

><p><strong>Monsters in the Dark<strong>

Noah sat in the common room catching up on her reading for Herbology while Terry and Michael played Exploding Snap. For once, she was having an easy time of reading now that the book was in ancient Greek—she just had to remember to write her homework in English—but her mind was far away. If she wasn't trying to make sense of her conversation with Nyx, she was glancing up at the clock and counting down the hours before she could IM Connor.

All she knew was that she needed someone to confide in about this whole mess. At the moment, Hermione was not an option because she'd rather panic over the consequences of failing Nyx's command than think of all the ways her friend could hate her if she found out the truth.

Noah groaned and buried her face into the crisp pages of her book.

_Why can't I just be a normal dork instead of a half-human one?_

"Come on, Noah," Michael said, laying down a new set of cards. "We need a third player."

She sat up at attention, taking a second to get over her shock that he had actually used her real name for the first time ever. Still, she shook her head and went back to her reading. She simply had too much on her mind to take part in any card games, especially ones that exploded spontaneously.

Within seconds two sets of hands grabbed her by the front of her hoodie and dragged her to her feet, her book toppling to the floor with a sound _thunk_.

"Ow, guys! Get off—come on, I don't want to play," she moaned, smoothing out the wrinkles.

"Tough, Runny, you're playing," Terry said with a grin. "We'll show you our answers tomorrow if you show us your star charts." And, as if she had already agreed to this, he changed the subject to explain the game to her.

She got the hang of it pretty quick thanks to all the hand reflex tricks Moody had been teaching her. After having only half of her left eyebrow singed off and a blister or two on her hands, she was eventually laughing along with Michael when Terry's face was covered in black soot from their final match. They went on like this for a while longer before they eventually gave into fatigue and went up the stairs to their dormitories.

**O0O0O0O**

It was half-past five in the morning when Noah slipped out of bed and into her bathrobe and sneakers. Using her improved stealth skills, she slipped out of the common room completely unnoticed by two older students who were panicking over their last-minute homework assignments. The cavernous halls were still and looming over her as she made her way along to get to the abandoned girls' bathroom on the first floor. There was water on the floor thanks to Moaning Myrtle's most recent outburst some days ago. It was said to have been one of her worst ones and she hadn't left her toilet since. Noah could only hope the weepy spirit would stay in there a little longer as she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate the way Moody told her to.

_When you do magic, no matter what kind, you have to relax your body and open yourself up to the energy. The second you tense and let the panic set in is the moment your spell will fail before you even squeak out a word._

She outstretched her hand and felt a gentle, electrifying shiver course through her. She latched onto that feeling and encouraged it to move all the way to her fingertips until they began to prickle. Seconds later, the puddles of water splashed upward and silently exploded into a cloud of mist. There was a stream of morning light coming through a high window, and a faint rainbow color appeared. Noah quickly fished a drachma out of her bathrobe pocket and flicked into the mist.

"Connor Stoll in Pennsylvania," she said.

The rainbow rippled a bit before Connor's grinning face gradually came into view.

"Noah! How's it going?" he said cheerfully.

"It's great! I'm glad we final had the time to do this!" she exclaimed, almost bouncing at seeing her friend for the first time in months.

"No kidding. So, how is everything?"

And that gave Noah the next five minutes to launch into all of her adventures leading up to Nyx's summoning. When she reached the end of her story, he let out a low whistle.

"My baby No-no is growing up so fast!" he cooed, pretending to wipe his eyes.

She rolled her eyes with a scowl at the nickname. "Shut up."

He laughed, but then went serious again. "Seriously, though, Noah, what the hell are you going to do about Nyx? Do _you_ know anything about the Orb of Hypnos?"

"No clue. Maybe I could ask Moody about it; he seems to know as much as Chiron does about this kind of stuff," she answered.

"And this guy's a son of Hephaestus? What in the world are you getting yourself into over there?"

"Hopefully nothing too insane—by demigod standards at least." She cracked a wry grin. Connor couldn't help but return it.

"You know what you _could_ do," he said in a sudden burst of inspiration, "is talk to Clovis from Cabin 15. If anyone should know about his dad's magical items, it's him."

"And how do I do that? He's always sleeping and probably wouldn't even answer if I tried to IM him."

Connor snorted. "True, but you could ask him at Thanksgiving. You are going back to camp for that, right?"

Noah blinked—she honestly had forgotten all about it. But still…would Dumbledore make an exception for her as the only American student here? It seemed an awful lot to ask of the man.

"I…don't know," she answered truthfully. "I'll have to talk this all over with Moody the next time I see him, I guess, but it's a good idea. I've been wracking my brain like crazy the past few days and I've still got nothing."

"Well, think about it and let me know with one of those owls of yours. I bet Travis and I could make it to Camp that weekend too since I doubt my aunt wants to see either of our faces again after last time."

This had both of them laughing uncontrollably for what felt like ages until Noah's ears caught the sound of echoing footfalls.

"Darn! I better go!" she hissed.

"It's cool. Catch you later, Noah."

"You too, Connor."

She waved to him as he disappeared and then the call was over. The bathroom felt strangely lonely for a moment but she shook it off with the elated feeling of remembering that she had another life outside of Hogwarts and that she might get back to it sooner than she thought.

She was so excited with the thoughts about all the things she could do back at Camp that she'd forgotten someone was in the hallways until she ran headfirst into them upon scurrying out of the bathroom.

"Oww…"

"You ok there, little firstie?" came a slightly older, male voice.

Looking up, Noah saw a boy with dark skin like hers, dreadlocks, and pajamas. He must've been Connor's age, which made him a third year.

"I'm fine," she answered, rubbing her forehead.

It was then that she caught a glimpse of something in the boy's hand before he tried to discreetly slip it into his back pocket while chatting her up again.

"I don't think I've ever seen a first year up this early. Not getting into any mischief are you?" Lee asked loftily.

"Er…no…just taking a walk," Noah answered absently, her eyes locked on whatever item the boy was trying to hide. If she could just get a better look at it…

Lee chuckled, amused by her terrible lie. "Suuuuure you are. Look, you'd better get back to your dorms before a professor catches you. Unless you've got a better story than that."

Noah glanced up at him with wide eyes and a shy grin. "You're probably right," she said, playing the dumb child act to the best of her ability. "I don't want to get into trouble. Thank you."

And with that, she brushed past him, ambling along until she turned the first corner and then sprinted all the way back to her dormitory.

Lee only rolled his eyes at the poor little girl before continuing on his way. Now that he had gotten rid of her, he could carry out the first part of his and the twins' next prank by dumping those dungbombs near Filch's office. All he had to do was make sure Filch wasn't _in_ his office at the moment. He reached into his back pocket for the activated Marauder's Map, but froze when he found only pocket lint.

"What the hell—hey! _HEY!_"

**O0O0O0O**

"Well, you're just full of surprises aren't you, girl?" said Moody. "Being summoned by one of the older goddesses is serious business."

Tonks wasn't here tonight so they could talk freely as Noah watched Moody shuffle through one pile of scrolls after another, muttering to himself all the while. She didn't dare break his concentration by answering him but let her eyes wander over the worktable she had organized last week, but was a complete mess all over again.

Quietly, she pushed the papers to one side only to spot a newspaper clipping underneath. The same article she'd read at Hagrid's. Next to that she saw another, this one a month older.

**New Wave of Disappearances**

_Two witches and one wizard: Melody Pickler, Cynthiana Hess and Alfred Bibble_

_have been added to the Missing Magics roster._

_None had been seen for over a week by friends and family._

_Other than their blood statuses of being muggleborns, the persons share no other traits_

_with each other which serves to further stump Auror officials as to where to begin investigations—_

Noah tore her eyes away from the article to pick up another one that came from a muggle newspaper with a similar headline: YOUNG GIRL AMONG THE MISSING. The one conclusion Noah was able to come to before Moody came over with a scroll tucked under his arm was that all the articles were just like the one she'd read at Hagrid's.

"Here!" Moody said, unraveling the scroll in front of her. "Read it."

"Moody, do you think…I-I was just wondering if m-maybe—"

"Get to the point," he grunted.

"—Maybe these missing persons cases in the papers have something to do with the Orb of Hypnos," she finished quickly.

Moody folded his arms and regarded her for a moment. "And what makes you say that?"

She chewed her lip, unsure of how to explain her thoughts now that she was put on the spot.

"I was j-just thinking…it's n-nothing really—"

"Don't give me that, Run. Answer my question," Moody snapped, making her flinch and avert her eyes to her lap.

"It just seems weird…wizards and m-muggles disappearing at random around th-the same time that an item of a god is stolen," she said.

She was then met with silence which made her glance upward. Moody seemed to be in his own world again, forgetting all about her which she decided was perfectly fine before turning to read the scroll. From what she could make of it though, it only talked about when the Orb of Hypnos was made (during the Trojan War) and how Nyx had hidden it away for Hypnos in an underground temple far below "a sleepy Irish town."

"That's a very good point, girl," Moody said at last. "Thinking outside the box at last."

She nodded slowly, barely holding back a small smile—this was probably the highest praise she'd ever gotten from him.

"A-And my friend Connor said that I should t-talk to Clovis, who's a son of Hypnos back at Camp," she added.

Moody seemed to be considering this, nodding all the while. "Interesting plan…how do you intend on accomplishing this?"

Noah twiddled her thumbs. "Well, I was thinking…m-maybe I'd have to go b-back to Camp to do it, but I'm not sure how—"

"I'll take care of it, girl. You just make sure you're ready to leave when the time comes."

**O0O0O0O**

At long last, it was time for the Halloween feast. All of the students were clamoring to get into the Great Hall, pushing and yelling excitedly about all the delicious magical food that awaited them.

Well, nearly all the students. One remained far behind, huddled by herself in the girls' bathroom and sobbing terribly.

Hermione had been there since the early afternoon feeling miserable all the while, but no one had come to find her. Yet she wasn't surprised by this. Ron Weasley had been right: she had no friends.

"Granger?"

Startled, she looked up and saw the last person she'd ever expected. Slowly, Anthony Goldstein made his way towards her, his eyes wide with surprise at seeing her normally calm, intelligent ones red and puffy and sorrowful.

"Oh no…not you…please _go away_," Hermione sobbed, burying her face in her knees again.

"You really want me to leave you here alone?" Anthony retorted skeptically.

There was a brief pause in her sobs, a surprised one. Here was the boy Noah had so often complained about, and he was being _nice_ to her. Something wasn't right here.

_But where's Noah? _A bitter voice in her head piped up.

Still…Noah couldn't have known about Ron's horrible words. She hadn't been there.

_Then what about Lavender and Parvati?_ They had been there, going over the notes she had lent them, but they'd only joined in with the other laughing girls and told her not to take everything so personally.

She was about to demand to know if he was really here just to laugh at her, but instead she found herself blurting out: "H-He's right! I've never…never had any friends. A-And…no one c-can stand me!"

"Who?" Anthony asked quietly.

"R-Ron W-Weasley. He said…I-I was a n-nightmare."

"Oh," was all he could think to say. He waited for her sobs to quiet down a little before awkwardly clearing his throat.

"Well, he's wrong," he said at last. "You…You're a good friend. Anyone…would be lucky to er, know you."

His pale face went bright red and he hastily glanced over his shoulder to make sure neither Terry nor Michael were sneaking around behind. He could only hope they wouldn't ever find out about how mushy he was being. And to Hermione Granger, of all people!

Her weeping had softened to sniffling as she chanced to look up at him. "Do…Do you really mean that?" she asked in a small voice.

"Well, I…at least, that's what Runny—er, Noah always says about you," he added quickly.

Hermione perked up at this. "N-Noah? She did?"

Anthony rolled his eyes, thankful for his quick thinking. "When doesn't she? She never shuts up about you. I'm surprised she's not here, actually…"

"Me too," Hermione said flatly, the embarrassed blush on her face disappearing instantly.

She didn't want to blame Noah, but she still wished the Ravenclaw had at least come to look for her.

"But I suppose it's not her fault really," Anthony went on.

"What do you mean?"

He started to answer, but then stopped himself as he looked very troubled.

"Well, I…I really shouldn't tell you this, but I-I have to do what's right, I s'pose," he said in a small, uncertain voice.

Hermione frowned with growing alarm. "Tell me what? Oh, please, Anthony, what is it?"

Admittedly, it was a little weird to be calling the Ravenclaw boy by his first name, but he had been so kind and sympathetic to her that she felt he at least deserved that much. Anthony fidgeted where he stood in a silent battle with himself.

"Well, it's like this…" Finally, he took a deep breath. "Terry and Michael, yeah? They…well, they tricked her into going into…the Forbidden Forest!"

"_What?!"_ Hermione cried out, shooting to her feet. "When? Why?"

Anthony shrunk under her sudden outburst. The look on her face was one that made him feel sorry for his mates if she ever got a hold of them.

"Earlier today," he answered carefully. "They…They told her they'd hidden her bead necklace in there and s-said she had to go get it back herself. B-But the truth is—they'd had it all along! They still do a-and I told them that they were taking things too far, but they didn't listen. What should we do?"

Hermione didn't answer right away as her mind raced furiously. Noah was in the forest. Noah was in danger. Her best friend needed her. Now.

"O-Ok, I'll go to the forest and try to find her—"

"But shouldn't we tell a teacher?"

"No! It would take too long if we both went and by then, Noah could be"—she didn't dare say the word, but an icy fear still settled within her. "I'll go find her and you tell a teacher. Ok?"

Anthony bit his lip. "But if Michael and Terry found out I snitched on them—"

"_Please_, Anthony! We have to do this!" Hermione grabbed his hand tightly with both of hers and looked up at him with pleading eyes.

With a shaky sigh, he nodded at last.

"Thank you, Anthony!" she cried. "You're a much better person than your two friends. Remember that, ok?"

She threw her arms around him for a quick second, which caught him totally off guard that he almost fell over. She pulled away, gave him a final nod with a resolute fire back in her eyes, and then ran as fast as she could to the Forbidden Forest.

**O0O0O0O**

"Noah! Wake up!"

"Huh?" Noah lifted her head off her pillow and looked around to see who was shaking her. She blinked when she saw it was Padma, both surprised and not surprised by the admonishing look from her roommate.

"Noah, you're going to be late for the feast!" Padma went on impatiently. "And I can't _believe_ you skived off Transfiguration today. Professor McGonagall was not happy about that, you know."

Noah hurriedly sat up, realizing that she had slept much longer than she meant to. She and Moody had been up all last night switching between meditation and conversing of the Orb of Hypnos dilemma. The late-night session had left her staggering about her daytime routine and she'd only wanted to catch a quick nap before having to suffer McGonagall's voice again.

"Sorry," Noah mumbled, even though she wasn't really.

Padma huffily folded her arms across her chest. "I shouldn't be surprised, I suppose. Especially since you've been spending so many late nights in Terry Boot's company," she said scathingly, as they went down the stairs.

Noah flinched at her harsh tone, but ventured to ask, "Why do hate them so much? Not that they're not jerks and all," she added quickly.

"They're arrogant and immature and they were always picking on you. How can you turn around and play Exploding Snap with them?"

"But…that can't be the only reason, can it?" Noah guessed.

This time, Padma sighed heavily as her arms dropped to her side. "I forgot that you grew up in America…" Then she glanced around the empty common room. "It's like this: Boot's parents are purebloods, ok? I don't know much about his mum, but his dad…well, Alexander Boot was a Death Eater in the war."

Noah ogled her in complete disbelief. "No way…"

Padma nodded. "I'm serious. He only escaped Azkaban because he claimed that he was under the Imperius Curse and whatever, but still…he's a dangerous man and it was right smart of his wife to divorce him."

Noah frowned and stared at the floor, her mind whirling at this information. She didn't know why, but a part of her still didn't want to believe Padma. Sure, Terry was an obnoxious slug, but a mini-Death Eater? Remembering their conversation at Hagrid, it begged the question if Michael even knew this about his best friend.

Padma placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm telling you this, so you'll know to stay away from them. I'm sorry that the other girls and I have been giving you the cold shoulder, but you can study with us again if you promise not to—"

"Run! Hey! Run!"

The entrance door to the common room burst open. Anthony came stumbling in, wide-eyed and panting hard.

"You've got to come quick!" he cried, hunched over with his hands on his knees. "It's Granger!"

Noah's chest tightened and she grabbed his shoulders. "What? What is it?" she yelled. "Is she ok? Is she—"

"She's in the forbidden forest!"

Padma's grip tightened on Noah's shoulder as the smaller Ravenclaw felt her knees go weak.

"What?" she croaked, "How?"

Still frantic, Anthony shook his head ruefully. "I-It was Terry and Michael! They told her _you_ were in there. I tried to s-stop them, but they w-wouldn't listen!"

Noah felt needles stabbing into her heart. She didn't know much about the forbidden forest or what kind of creatures lurked in its dark areas, but she'd heard several people mention werewolves and some unknown bloodthirsty monster that had captured two Hufflepuffs last year and devoured them.

And Hermione had gone in there for her sake.

"We need to tell Professor Flitwick," Padma said decisively.

Despite her shaking body, Noah pulled away from the hand on her shoulder. "You guys do that. I'll go find Hermione."

Padma stared at her. "You can't be serious, Noah. Noah? Noah!"

Checking for her wand in her back pocket, Noah pushed past them and raced into the dimly-lit corridor. Her knees were shaking, her palms were sweaty, and she couldn't even pull off a decent hex.

_But who cares? I'll kill every monster in there with my bare hands if one so much as lays a finger on her…_

**O0O0O0O**

Hermione whimpered and wondered what that stupid Sorting Hat was thinking for putting her in Gryffindor. Her ankle was swollen and every step she took sent a spike of pain through her whole leg, and she had scratches all over her skin from the thorns that had caught her.

Gryffindors were supposed to be brave and daring, able to rescue those in need. That's what she thought she was doing when she foolishly plunged into the forest's dark depths, but so far, all she'd done was trip over her own feet and get herself all scratched up like an idiot. If Noah was still in here, she'd probably be beyond help now no thanks to Hermione, who was shivering and nursing her injured ankle. She couldn't even find the strength to keep a firm grip on her wand and her _Lumos_ spell was already fading.

The only best friend she's ever had and she injures herself before she can rescue her. There were odd noises all around and even some distant growling sounds that only put her on frantic alertness, her eyes darting around for whatever creature might come out and attack her. Then there was a faint rustling sound and twigs snapping ominously.

She froze instantly and sucked in a sharp breath.

_Don't move. Don't move,_ she chanted to herself, recalling the instructions on a camping emergency brochure. She wondered dryly if the same rules applied to magical creatures as they did to black bears.

The sound seemed to be getting louder…closer…

Hermione's mind blanked and she couldn't think of a single spell that might save her.

Another twig snapped.

Why was it she could memorize the entire preface of proper, fluid wand movement in _The Standard Book of Spells_, but she couldn't think of a way out of this nightmare? As hard as she searched through her memory, eyes squeezed tightly closed, she couldn't remember any of her textbooks giving any real instruction on how to use magic to keep oneself from getting mauled to death by a—

"Hermione!"

Her eyes snapped open and she spun around, her tiny light bright enough to show her the gnarly roots ahead of her and the panting Noah Run, who nearly tripped over them as she rushed to the Gryffindor's side.

"Noah!" Hermione could already feel tears of relief gathering in her eyes when Noah nearly tackled her into a fierce hug. Pulling apart, both started rushing their words, afraid that if they didn't say them fast enough, the other would disappear before her eyes.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

"No, no, I'm fine. What about you, though? I came to get you out of here."

"What? But I…I came to get _you_ out of here."

"Me? But why? I thought you were..."

"No, Anthony told _me_—"

Both girls froze and stared at each other with wide eyes realization quickly dawned on them simultaneously. However, it was Hermione who moaned first.

"He _tricked_ us! I should've known!" She angrily stamped her foot only to cry out with pain and stoop to the ground to cradle the throbbing injury.

"What happened? Where are you hurt?" Noah asked worriedly, kneeling at her side.

"I-It's just my ankle," Hermione hissed through clenched teeth. "I think I sprained it or"—she angrily pounded the ground with a fist. "This is awful! What are we going to do now?"

"W-We have to get out of here," Noah answered, nervously examining the surrounding crowd of dark trees. "Do you need help walking?"

"Don't talk crazy, Noah. How are we going to do that?" Hermione asked hopelessly.

"We just need to head south. If we go any further north, we'll be in the heart of the forest," Noah said automatically.

Before Hermione could ask her how she knew that, Noah grabbed her hand and gingerly helped her stand, looping an arm around her waist as Hermione leaned on her for support.

"If you c-could keep y-your wand lit for us," Noah said softly, unable to keep the tremors out of her voice.

Just like with Hogwarts castle, she simply _knew_ her way around the forbidden forest. But even that didn't give her much comfort. She may have known how to get through the forest, but she didn't know what was _in_ it. And she was sure she didn't want to find out…

**O0O0O0O**

Slowly but surely they made their way through the still darkness. At the very least, they were out of the denser part of the forest and the stars were no longer hidden, lighting the way a little bit better. Even without the trees looming over them with mischievous branches tugging at their clothes, every little noise made them jump and pause for a few seconds. A thickening fog had settled around them

"M-Maybe it's squirrels," Hermione tried to comfort Noah and herself.

"Like m-magical, vampire squirrels?" Noah added weakly, trying to smile.

Hermione chuckled a little before squeezing Noah's hand. "Noah…thanks for coming after me…even though you really shouldn't have. You're missing the feast…"

Noah shot her a halfhearted glare. "I-I could say the same to you," she retorted. "Besides…you're way more important to me than some stupid feast."

By the time she realized what she was saying, the words had already left her mouth and she averted her eyes to the side, grateful for the darkness and her dark skin that masked her blush.

Hermione was glad that her friend wasn't looking her way as her own red face was much more noticeable. No one had ever told her something like that before. Replaying the words over in her mind, she felt her stomach do a bunch of flip-flops and briefly forgot about the sinister forest around them.

"Thanks, No…You're—"

"Hey, who's that?" Noah pointed ahead as she knelt into a low crouch, pulling Hermione with her.

There was a thick row of bushes and brambles in front of them that Hermione had to crane her head to see the tall, hooded figure standing several feet ahead and muttering to a large, winged creature. The air was still that both could barely make out what he was saying.

_Too large to be a fairy_, Hermione wondered. _And really ugly._

The winged monster seemed to be made of nothing but scraggly fur and piecemeal armor. Its face looked like her grandmother's pet pug but with fangs that dripped with foamy saliva as the creature hissed in response to the hooded figure's words. Despite its freaky appearance, there was a dangerous aura about it and the fluttering feeling in her stomach was slowly being replaced with one of bubbling fear.

She turned to see what Noah made of all this only to find the other girl already trembling beside her, eyes wide and alert. She was squeezing the circulation out of Hermione's hand as she realized, with spiking fear, what kind of danger they'd be in if they didn't _get out of here_.

"Noah? What's—"

But the Ravenclaw clamped a hand over her mouth and frantically shook her head.

_God, why now?_ _How?_ Noah tried to organize her thoughts, but her mind kept playing out the scene of them being spotted by the monster—the _keres_. As much as she wanted to take Hermione and run, they're only option was to stay put and not make a sound.

She had learned about them from Connor. They were demons of disease and pestilence who served under…goddess name.

It was either the keres or going right back into the deeper parts of the forest.

_CONSTANT VIGILANCE! _Moody's voice boomed in her mind as she and Hermione crouched lower. _Learn what you can before making any stupid decisions, girl. _Waiting silently, she ignored Hermione's puzzled look and strained her ears to hear what was being said.

"_You can tell Master…according to plan…await…command_," said the voice of the hooded man who, Noah realized, was speaking in ancient Greek.

"_He only sends message….do not fail…_" hissed the keres.

"_I won't_!" the man snapped urgently. "_Not with the orb to help…It's so beautiful_…"

"_Hush_!" There was a pause.

"_What is it_?" the man demanded.

Another pause. "_I smell…a godling._"

Noah's heart plummeted and even though she imagined herself springing to her feet and running away as fast as she could, she stayed where she was, praying she'd heard wrong.

"_What? Where?_"

"_Over there_."

"Run, Hermione!"

Noah yanked Hermione up and ran hard. They stumbled over roots and low-hanging branches slapped them in the face, but they didn't let go of each other and they didn't slow down. There was no plan, except to get away somehow before their screeching pursuer caught them.

"N-Noah! Wh-What is that _thing_?" Hermione cried, whimpering every time she landed on her damaged ankle.

"It's a keres! We've got to get away!"

_But where? _She thought desperately.

Her eyes frantically scanned the surroundings, but she saw only dark blurs. Her heart pounded furiously against her chest and her mind raced for some solution. What could they possibly do now? They were no match for this thing with only pathetic first-year charms in their arsenal and they were only getting farther and farther away from Hogwarts.

"Noah!"

That was the last thing she heard before she was tackled to the ground and her face smushed into the dirt. Something whizzed over her head, narrowly missing her ear.

"Hermione!" she cried, straining to turn around.

"I'm all right! I-It almost got us," Hermione sobbed. Her ankle was searing with pain and she was shivering like mad.

"_Godling."_

Noah quickly jumped to her feet and saw the keres hovering a few feet away with its leathery flapping slowly. Its bulging eyes glinted with excitement.

"_You must die,"_ it cooed in ancient Greek, jagged claws itching with anticipation.

"Run!" Noah shoved Hermione hard as the keres zoomed towards them again. The monster swung its shriveled arm and batted her away, sending her flying into a nearby tree. Noah hit the ground, gasping as her side exploded in agony. Through hazy eyes, she saw the keres stalking towards her.

"Oh god, Noah!" Hermione's hands frantically searched the ground until she picked up a large rock and hurled it at the monster. It smacked the creature right in the head and it furiously whirled on her with a sharp hiss.

"Hermione!" Noah gasped, ignoring the painful protest from her side. "_Run!_"

"No!" The Gryffindor held her wand tighter and shouted, "_Stupefy!_"

The keres was knocked back as if it had been hit with an invisible fist, which her enough time to dash to Noah's aid.

"Come on, No! Get up!" she cried, throwing Noah's arm around her neck to pull her to her feet.

Noah cried out but forced herself to start running.

They'd hardly gone a few steps when the monster recovered and flew after them. Noah quickly shoved Hermione again just before claws raked through her shirt and into her skin. Her left shoulder exploded with burning pain that made her collapse, too shocked to even scream. Thick streams of blood were already oozing down and staining the remains of her shirt.

"_Noah!"_

Spots danced in front of her eyes, but she could still make out Hermione's form when the other girl crawled next to her, reaching out to gingerly touch the wound. Noah screamed, curling up into a ball which allowed Hermione to see that the rows of gashes ran halfway across her back.

_Run, Hermione!_ Her brain screamed. She was pretty sure she had moved her mouth to form the command, but blood was rushing to her ears that she couldn't hear her own voice.

"You…You're hurt badly! I'm n-not l-leaving you!" Hermione cried.

Noah would've forced herself to argue something or say anything to take her mind off the pain, but the keres was hovering over them, ready for a final strike.

_It's going to kill us! It's going to kill Hermione!_ As the thought blared in her mind, the rest of the world seemed to slow down all of a sudden.

Noah thought she was going to black out, but instead everything came into sharper focus from Hermione's tear-stained cheeks to the dilated, black pupils of the keres' eyes as it came in closer. At the same time, she could smell the nighttime air, and hear a gentle humming in her ears. It was all surprisingly peaceful. With newfound strength, she was able to sit up and raise her uninjured arm to aim at the monster.

Electrical tingles surged through her body like water rapids that made the pain disappear so she could focus on the energy gathering from her fingertips into a fiery white sphere that hovered over her open palm.

The sphere shot out like a beam and pierced right through the keres's chest, causing it to shriek with pain just before exploding into a cloud of black wisp.

All at once, Noah's strength left her body and she collapsed again, a wave of nausea crashing down on her as the world turned into a fuzzy mesh of grey, brown, and blue. Hermione was shouting her name again, dirt and leaves clinging to her bushy hair. Noah would've laughed at this if she wasn't so relieved that her friend was safe. She opened her mouth to say something, but let out a strangled cry instead when her body reminded her of how much pain she was in.

Then a dark shadow that cast over them and startled Hermione into looking up.

A tall, silhouetted figure appeared at the same time a gentle hand reached down and closed Noah's eyes.

_Rest, child._

So she did, with no plans to wake up anytime soon.

* * *

><p><strong>Let me know what you thought about the forbidden forest scene. I'm still a bit iffy about it, and may rewrite it again at some point.<strong>

**Thanks for reading/reviewing/alerting/favoriting! And for being patient with my procrastinating, trollish ways.**


	12. Aftershock

**Aftershock**

Noah dreamed for a long time, groping in darkness.

There was a deep blue pool of energy that engulfed her entire body like fire, dancing around her without touching. Even though she couldn't feel it, she could hear it humming through her veins and in her ears like a gentle voice trying to lull her into calmness.

She thought she heard voices floating over her head, muffled and debating, and all she could make out were fuzzy outlines of familiar people.

"Broken ribs, by the looks...trying to stop…bleeding _and_ the infection…should go to St. Mungo's…"

Then the voices disappeared and soothing fingers ran through her hair like a soft plea: _Please wake up, Noah._

So she opened her eyes. The world slowly tunneled into focus.

"Noah!"

"H-Herm…mione…?" she managed to say.

Everything hurt, even talking. Hermione seemed to realize this and bent down to kiss her burning forehead.

"Shh. Don't try to talk. You're really hurt, No. And your fever keeps rising," Hermione said, pressing a cold, damp cloth to her face.

"Water…" Noah croaked, feeling her dry tongue rub against the roof of her mouth.

"Right, just hang on," Hermione said quickly, and disappeared from view.

Returning seconds later with a small mug, she helped Noah raise her head to take small, careful sips. Noah almost spluttered at the first one, confused when she tasted butterbeer instead.

"Sorry, sorry," Hermione rushed to say. "Professor Dumbledore insisted that you drink this medicine as soon as you woke up. I can get you some water next," she explained.

_Dumbledore? Oh wait…nectar._ Realization dawned on her and she found herself becoming more alert.

"How…How did we get out? A-And the keres…where did it go?" she asked, craning forward with every word. That was a mistake and pain erupted from her midriff and shot through her whole body. She barely bit back a strangled cry, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Don't you dare move, Noah Run," Hermione said sternly, easing her back down. "And don't worry about all of that either. Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall saved us, ok?"

"Y-Yeah, but…" Noah's protest died on her lips as they suddenly felt like lead again and the world started spinning slowly.

She bit her lip as the pain grew stronger now that the effect of the nectar began to wear off. At the same time, blots of red starting to show through her fresh bandages. Another fact Connor had relayed to her about the keres came back to memory:

"_Only the power of a god or titan can heal a keres injury. Even if it's a tiny scratch. You're dead meat otherwise."_

_Dead. I'm going to die._

Beads of tears started forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Noah? Noah, you'll be ok. Don't worry…don't cry," Hermione said softly, but found her lips starting to tremble now.

Noah opened her mouth to agree, but instead her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell silent. Immediate panic washed over Hermione like an icy shower and she screamed.

**O0O0O0O**

It was an abandoned classroom with only a single torch perched on the grimy wall and the strange woman's pale glow to light it. Something about the place was familiar, but Noah wasn't concerned about that as she stared at the beautiful woman in front of her.

She had flawless, alabaster skin, and silky, flowing black hair that only made the silver band around her head gleam even brighter. Her face was nicely chiseled and oval and her green eyes looked impossibly old as they dissected the small girl, who was beginning to think that maybe her own face had come from this woman more so than her father. She kept her eyes respectfully on the ground, not sure of what else to do to with Lady Hecate, her mother, watching her so closely without a single word.

"Noah Run," Hecate spoke at last.

Noah startled at hearing her mother say her name for the first time, but she still didn't dare to look up.

"Y-Yes, Mother…milady?"

"Look at me, child."

Noah did, and tried to read what was in the goddess's face. There was no love or acceptance, only mild curiosity at the child she had never met until now. Even though her heart was racing, looking into Hecate's face was easier than looking at her father.

"I will not tarry long, girl, for you must wake up soon and return to your friend." A small smile crossed her face, which only made her look even more perfect. "She is…quite worried about you. Her feelings for you are strong. As are yours for her…"

Noah's cheeks flushed. Her first meeting with her mom and they were already talking about her personal life?

"Sh-She's a…my friend, milady. I just…I-I had t-to p-protect her," Noah mumbled, her voice small and quivering.

"I can see that. You cared about her enough to finally tap into your magical abilities. That is why I have come," Hecate said simply.

"I-I…what?"

"Look at your hands."

Noah held her palms up and saw the glowing blue energy pulsing from them, but slowly fading. Was this _her_ magic?

"Yes, child, this is your birthright magic, but you still have much to learn. To be honest, I would not have approached you until you'd proven yourself more worthy of it, but…time is of the essence and there is much tribulation ahead of you."

"But w-why?" Noah croaked out, her hands dropping to her side.

"Speak plainly, girl."

"W-Why have y-you approached me now?" Noah made sure to keep any whining out of her voice, but the question had been burning inside her for years.

Hecate regarded her neutrally until she took a step closer. "I do not make it a habit to interfere with the lives of my children unless absolutely necessary. I have learned a harsh lesson over the years that meddling too much in the lives of mortals only creates disasters. Therefore, I wait for my children to prove themselves worthy of my blessings."

The answer was plain and it made a bitter lump settle in Noah's throat. So she hadn't been worthy of the goddess's attention for ten years. But how did nearly getting herself and her best friend killed suddenly change all that?

"I-I understand, milady," she said, looking down.

Hecate's warm hand touched her shoulder and sent tingles through her body that she could almost feel their magics touching, trying to get familiar with each other. Hers was restless as it poked and prodded at Hecate's mature and soothing energy like a puppy nipping at someone's heels.

"That should take care of the _daimones_ wound for you," said Hecate. Then she took Noah's hand in both of hers. "Noah Run, take this gift, which will alert you whenever enemies are near, and know that you are my child."

The flame from the torch on the wall flew over like a bullet and landed in her hand, burning hotly, but there was no pain and the room didn't lose its lighting. Noah opened her fingers and saw a cord with a black torch pendant dangling at the end of it, streaks of red cutting through it as if the fire was trapped inside. Hecate held up the necklace and hooked it around her daughter's neck.

"As I said, you have much to learn, but you are beginning to show your—"

"Potential," Noah interrupted softly.

Hecate didn't smile or take offense by this, but merely nodded.

"Continue on with the son of Hephaestus. He will train you well since he has dealt with another one of my children who was very much like you. He took many lives and eventually destroyed himself because he foolishly let his magics mingle together," she said.

"Moody? Wh-Who are you talking about?" But Hecate held up a hand.

"It is not my place to say anymore or I would be meddling too much," she quelled any further questions. It took all of Noah's willpower not to argue. "My last words to you, Noah Run, are to be ready. Your journey has only just begun."

**O0O0O0O**

When Noah opened her eyes again, Hecate's voice echoing faintly in her ears, Hermione was at her side and holding her hand for dear life. A broad stream of morning light flooded into the room

"Merlin, No, I thought…I thought you"—a choked sob from speaking for a moment. "You're safe. Just don't move too much."

"Where…am I?" It was then that Noah felt the strictures of tight bandaging around her ribs and shoulder that allowed her to only move her right arm freely enough to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"In the hospital wing. You've been out for two days now. Do you remember anything?"

"N-Not really…I"—

With Hermione's help, she was able to pull herself up to lean back against her pillow. Her shoulder wasn't burning, but her ribs must've still been in bad shape as they throbbed horribly with protest.

But then it hit her and the memories came rushing back. The forest…the strange man…the keres attacking…the intense pain and being only seconds away from death…but then she used magic—_real_ magic.

Then she felt it. Something cold sitting in her closed hand, which she'd almost forgotten about. She felt it carefully with her fingers—a smooth surface that tickled with energy. The torch necklace.

She'd finally earned a magical gift from her mother. And the dream she'd had was real after all, which could only mean that her mother's final words had been as well.

The thought promptly left her mind when she felt a thumb brushing over her knuckles and a body press closer to hers.

"Are you ok, Noah?" Hermione asked softly. Noah swallowed and discreetly slid the necklace under her pillow.

"I'm all right," she said, giving the worried girl a meaningful look. "A-Are _you_ ok, though?"

Hermione buried her face into her friend's shoulder and Noah felt her nod.

"Madame Pomfrey fixed my ankle in no time. But forget about me..._you're_ the one who's hurt badly. Y-You lost a lot of blood." Noah didn't have to see her face to know that she was on the verge of tears.

"Hermione…please don't cry. I-I'm sorry you're worried…" She put her good arm around her and nuzzled her face against the fuzzy pillow of hair.

"You should be." And before Noah could get lost in the smell of raspberries, Hermione pulled away with a stiff frown on her flushed face.

"H-Hermione? What's wrong—"

"Noah Run, you idiot! How dare you follow me into that bloody forest?"

Noah jumped at her friend's shrill outburst and shrunk back a little, eyes wide with fear. Hadn't the crazy Gryffindor thanked her at one point for going after her? Now, she was in trouble for it?

"B-But Hermione I had to—"

"Don't you give me that, young lady! You could've been killed! And that monster"—Hermione furiously wiped her eyes. "You almost died! If you ever do that again—"

"Miss Granger! This is the Hospital Wing. Anymore shouting and you will have to leave." Madame Pomfrey appeared out of nowhere and came bustling over to Noah's bedside with a stern look directed at the Gryffindor, who bit her lip at the reprimand.

She was still glowering at Noah, who pretended not to notice as the medi-witch started fussing over her.

"How do you feel? Did you take that medicine the headmaster brought?" Madame Pomfrey asked, carefully unraveling her bandages.

It finally hit Noah that she wasn't even wearing a shirt, and with a yelp, she pulled her blankets over her body, blushing madly. Hermione's angry look faltered for a moment as she started to blush, realizing how close they had been seconds ago.

"I-I drank the nect—medicine. I'm f-feeling a little b-better now," Noah answered, feebly swatting the nurse's busy hands away.

Madame Pomfrey gave her a skeptical look as she peeled the bloody gauze away from Noah's now-uninjured shoulder.

"My word!" she gasped. "B-But that's impossible! I had to give you two blood-replenishing potions only yesterday! Not even a scratch…"

Hermione leaned over to see this and her eyebrows shot into her forehead.

"D-Does that mean she'll be ok?" she stammered hopefully.

Madame Pomfrey didn't answer right away as she proceeded to check Noah's temperature, pulse, eyesight, and a number of other things that drove the young half-blood crazy from her attentions.

"I'm _fine_!" she squeaked, using her arm to shield her head. "I j-just heal f-fast…er, sort of…"

"Well, yes, it would seem so….Your ribs will take a little bit longer, but you just need rest—"

"And a shirt." Hermione smirked a little when Noah hid further under her blankets with embarrassment, but the young genius's mind was working furiously now at this miracle in front of her.

She reached down to get her schoolbag on the floor and pulled out the clean t-shirt Padma had gotten from Noah's trunk.

"Here," she said, once Madame Pomfrey scurried off.

Noah hurriedly threw the shirt over her head only to let out a pained hiss as she clutched at her ribs. Hermione dashed to her side and gently eased her against the pillow.

"Be careful, No!" She glared at Noah.

"S-Sorry," Noah gasped out, waiting for the pain to pass.

Hermione felt her chest tighten, her anger and all other thoughts evaporating from her mind. She touched Noah's cheek when she saw her face relax some.

"I hate seeing you like this," she whispered. "Even if you _were_ amazing back there."

She almost giggled at the stunned, gaping look on the Ravenclaw's face.

"A-Amazing? Me? No way…" But Hermione shook her head and leaned in close so their foreheads touched.

"You were, No. Just promise me you won't do something like that _ever_ again, ok? Not if you plan on spending Christmas with me."

"Christmas?"

"Mmm…I asked my mum and dad and they said I could invite a friend over. Lavender and Parvati couldn't come, so if you don't want to…" She trailed off and bit her lip uncertainly. Maybe she'd been too forward in her invitation. There's no way Noah would actually want to—

"Of course, I want to!" Noah would've started jumping for joy, but remembered her injuries. "I-I mean…if it's ok with you…"

But Hermione was smiling so wide that it started to hurt her face. She threw her arms around Noah's neck, careful not to pounce on her, and kissed her cheek.

"Yes! Please come! It'll be so much fun. I already know what I want to get you for Christmas. Thanks, No."

"Sh-Shouldn't I be thanking you?" Noah asked, her heart speeding up as the spot from where Hermione's lips had been tingled pleasantly.

Before she could form any coherent thoughts, familiar voices echoed throughout the ward followed by a pair bouncing shadows. They appeared to be arguing with Madame Pomfrey about being allowed to come inside.

"Can't we go in yet? Not unless she's dead or something!" Came the impatient voice of Terry Boot.

Noah and Hermione exchanged bewildered looks at the same time Madame Pomfrey sighed resignedly and allowed the boys to enter. Terry and Michael burst into the ward like a pair of excited trolls.

"So you're alive after all, Noah?"

"It's about time you woke up; you've been out for _days_!"

"Or maybe you were just faking it so you and Granger could snog some more."

Hermione's face went red all over again and she jumped to her feet. "Oh, _shut up_ and stop using that word!"

Finally, Noah pushed herself upright again and spoke up, effectively stopping the brewing argument.

"Wh-What are you guys even doing here?"

Michael scoffed, "We came to make sure you weren't dead. Duh."

"After _your_ friend nearly got us killed, of course," Hermione said scathingly.

"That wasn't our bloody fault, Granger!" Terry snapped back.

"Oh really, Boot? How do we know that you weren't secretly involved too? Having a great laugh at us—"

"Look, Miss Know-It-All…" Michael growled with a furious step forward, "We didn't…we didn't even _know_ Anthony was planning to do something like that. Not until he told us. We're…sorry, ok?" he added, kicking at imaginary dirt.

And both boys stood there staring Noah down with uncharacteristically pleading looks on their faces; it was like they were putting some kind of invisible power in her hands to decide whether or not they were truly guilty.

Noah fidgeted with her blanket, uncomfortable at this sudden turn of events. It was shocking enough that they had come to visit her, but this was the last thing she ever would have expected. She remembered what Padma had told her before about Terry, but even she was a little surprised at Hermione's harshness.

"Hermione, stop." She took the Gryffindor girl's hand. "It's…not their fault. And we're both ok; that's what matters, right?"

Hermione didn't look at all convinced and felt suddenly lonely from hearing these words. She spun around and their eyes locked in a silent debate. This was one of the few times that there wasn't even a shred of shyness in her friend's face that not only quelled any further arguments but also nearly made her change her mind. With a sigh, she nodded.

"Look, Noah, if it makes you feel any better," Terry began, "we would never have done something like that and Anthony shouldn't have in the first place."

Noah gave a tiny grin. "It's ok…you…..thanks."

Hermione watched the boys visibly brighten at this with a shadow of jealousy clouding over her and her grip on Noah's hand loosened slightly.

"Everyone out now!" Madame Pomfrey marched over to the group, ignoring Noah's protests, and shooed the others away. "You've had more than fifteen minutes and she needs rest."

Noah rolled her eyes and sadly waved her friends goodbye. Her stay in the hospital was very boring after that.

Without being allowed to leave her bed, there was nothing else to do except for homework. Her movements were still stiff and rang with soreness at every movement so dragging her shoulder bag up into her lap proved to be a painful task. When she started pulling out her first book, a folded piece of parchment slipped out too. Frowning in confusion, she started to open it only to see that it was made up of several pages.

"Oh!" she blurted, but then quickly covered her mouth. She certainly didn't want Madame Pomfrey to come back and make her sleep. Or for her latest treasure to be discovered.

After making sure she was alone, she unfolded the Marauder's Map. At least, that's what the fancy title said in the center amidst the intricate schematic of all of Hogwarts castle. She had gotten a good look at it staying up late beneath her bed covers and marveling over the moving dots by flashlight. Every dot represented a current Hogwarts resident and what they were doing at any given moment.

_Jackpot_, she thought with a growing smile.

If anything, the Map was going to make her next mission the easiest one over.

**O0O0O0O**

Noah had been given a sleeping potion so Madame Pomfrey could ward off any other visitors before turning the lights off to leave the hospital wing. Noah had barely been able to fake drinking the whole thing and ended up swallowing some that knocked her out for a good few hours.

She rubbed her eyes, trying to remember what was going on her around her. The Map was still clutched in the other hand under her pillow until she shot up, wincing at the pain in her side. She slid the parchment out and smoothed it open, lighting the lantern at her bedside; her eyes set to searching for the moving dot of Severus Snape. It was pacing around in his bedroom, which would have made her feel somewhat relieved had his room not been but a hallway away from his classroom. And in the classroom was the potion master's private storage, which was where the boomslang skin was.

Completely awake now, she slipped out of bed, went to the entrance and peered into the corridor. The castle was much darker than she remembered from her detention even with the bright wall-hung torches. However, there was no one around and the paintings were all asleep. And at least she didn't have to worry about any harpies here.

Even with half her body bruised and sore, Noah moved like a master thief using shadows and silence to her ultimate advantage. She tread lightly on every stone, especially when she came to the staircase. They were moving much slower, groaning heavily and masking any sounds she made. Thanks to this, she easily leapt from one to the next, running halfway up the steps and then hopping across to another staircase.

By the time she landed in a crouch on the floor, she exhaled the breath she'd been holding and dropped to her knees.

Swallowing any pained noises as her ribs started to burn, she waited until it passed before dragging herself to her feet. For the first time, she'd rather be back in her hospital bed than moving about. But she knew this would be her only opportunity now that she was halfway there.

The dungeons were filled with creaking and moaning echoes that forced her to be on high alert or risk not hearing someone coming.

As Moody constantly drilled into her and Tonks' ears: the most important part of stealth was listening. If you didn't listen, your movements would be based on the wrong decisions and timings. And then you'd get yourself killed which, in this current predicament, was the same as getting caught by Snape.

Noah slowed as she reached the arched door of the potions classroom and drew her wand, aiming it at the lock. Squeezing her eyes closed in concentration, she whispered,

"_Alohomora."_

The lock eased free.

She gently pushed the door open, wincing at the slightest creak. Before slipping inside the classroom, she took a final glance down the hall where Snape's room was supposed to be.

Nothing and no one.

She left the door partly open behind her, letting the light from outside penetrate the overwhelming darkness. It seemed highly unlikely that the room itself would be booby-trapped in some way, but Moody's paranoia was rubbing off on her that she kept her back firmly to the wall as she made her way towards the far corner of the room. The desks were deserted and tidy; even the floors were impeccably swept. If one chair was crooked, it would stick out like a neon sign depending on how observant the professor was.

The door to the teacher's private storage was not marked, but she had seen Snape occasionally disappear there during class and was confident when flicked her wand again to unlock it.

Once she'd stepped inside, the shelves loomed over her at least nine feet high, which seemed more frightening in the dark. Like they were alive and getting ready to scream for their master about the intruder.

Noah pushed the silly imagination away and began perusing the vast collection which were, thankfully, all alphabetized. The B's were higher up, forcing her to climb the ladder propped against one of the shelves. She did and almost cheered at loud when she finally spotted the tiny vial. She hurried to stuff it in her back pocket and left the storage room immediately. She did a final onceover of the classroom to make sure nothing was out of place and then made a nonstop beeline for the staircase. In only a few seconds, Noah was quietly racing out of the dungeons, constantly checking to make sure the vial hadn't fallen out. She easily weaved through the staircase, deftly hopping across one and jumping off the top step to another until she was back in the hallway she'd come from. It was still as quiet and unmoving as it had been when she'd left. With a satisfied smile, Noah threw herself into bed, dropping the vial into her bag. She couldn't wait to see the look on Moody's face when she gave it to him.

**O0O0O0O**

The worst part of nearly getting killed in the forbidden forest, Noah decided, was how popular she had suddenly become.

People would gape at her, gossip about her, and follow her every move with admiring eyes. The entire school was talking about it and even a couple of older Gryffindor students had even given her encouraging slaps on the back at her bravery and for saving one of their own. She'd already had several of her housemates come up to her, begging for details about the monster that had attacked her. She'd take the racket of a typical school day anytime but it was all becoming a bit too much. It was bizarre being liked by so many people, having always been a bit of an outcast, but thankfully Noah had Terry and Michael to gladly soak up all of the attention for her. She still couldn't believe how things had started changing between the three of them. Granted, they still loved teasing her and calling her "Runny" but it was different now. And she didn't have to put up with Anthony anymore now that he hated her for stealing his friends away.

One morning at breakfast, a large crowd had gathered around her in no time, forcing Terry and Michael to rescue her and drag her to transfiguration class.

"Thanks for that, guys," she mumbled.

The classroom barely had any students in it, but the ones who were there were whispering and pointing in her general direction. She looked away, staring very hard at her textbook.

"Relax, Noah, this'll blow over eventually. Besides, you're still a total dork," Michael assured her. She rolled her eyes and shrugged, even allowing herself a glimmer of hope that he was right. After all, hardly anyone harassed her about messing up in class anymore. The only ones who weren't at all impressed with her were Padma and Anthony. She didn't care about the latter, but could only guess at how betrayed Padma was feeling now that she was still in the company of Terry.

"Here comes your number one fan, Runny," Terry muttered.

Confused, Noah looked up only to wish that she hadn't. McGonagall strode into the room looking over the students, her gaze holding Noah's for some time until the first year looked away. She half-expected the woman to say something to her, but the lesson began in normal fashion. In fact, McGonagall seemed to be ignoring her entirely. Noah almost would have preferred the professor to criticize her bad handwriting than this flawless silent treatment.

The lesson dragged on for ages until, at last, McGonagall dismissed them.

"Run, stay here," she ordered, wiping her blackboard clean. "I want a word."

Noah froze, muttering swears in ancient Greek, before slowly turning back to face the professor with puzzled looks from Terry and Michael on her back. She should've known that a full day without McGonagall breathing down her neck at least once would have been too good to be true.

Ignoring Anthony's pleased look, she trudged to the front of the classroom. McGonagall glided around her desk until she was standing directly in front of Noah. She waited until everyone else had left before she began.

"Miss Run, like the rest of the school, I know about yours and Ms. Granger's escapade in the forbidden forest," McGonagall began pointedly, folding her hands together.

Noah didn't say anything, but was definitely confused since she had not expected the conversation to go in this direction.

"Do I even really need to explain how incredibly foolish it was for both of you to go in there in the first place? Honestly, I thought the headmaster's warning would've been enough for you not to get yourself into anymore trouble."

"B-But I wasn't trying to—"

"Don't interrupt me, young lady."

Noah hung her head to stare at the ground. Of course McGonagall wanted to blame this whole thing on her! Forget the fact that she had nearly _died_ that night.

"Nonetheless, Miss Run," McGonagall began again, "I'm awarding you thirty points for your bravery. I am…very impressed with your loyalty, however recklessly you may act on it."

This made Noah look up in alarm.

_I'm hearing things, right? Or one of us has gone nuts_, she thought, disbelieving McGonagall's serious face as they stared at each other in silence. Then the older witch cleared her throat, being the first one to break eye contact this time.

"That's all I needed to speak with you about, Miss Run. You may go."

Noah didn't know what to say at this point so she simply mumbled out a "Yes, Ma'am" before turning to leave, feeling more elated than ever.

* * *

><p><strong>I hate to end the chapter there and I even had more I wanted to write, but it's already been a long time since I updated and I was getting impatient with myself. Hope you guys enjoyed nonetheless! If there's anything I need to fix, let me know.<strong>

**On a final note, I've recently started a tumblr blog for my fanfictions! It's just for fun, but I'll be posting fandom-related things and even some unused scenes/plot bunnies that have been hanging out in my computer. I can also answer any questions in more detail there since I don't like to make my ANs too long here.**

**If you're at all curious, the link is in my profile.**

**See you guys around!**


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